Awake My Soul
by hunterofartemis080
Summary: The Doctor was forced to leave Donna, but Caroline remained. Their brewing relationship grew, despite the Doctor's worries about what will happen if, and when, she dies. But, as the Doctor's death draws ever nearer, Caroline finds herself addressing the strange heirloom she's always kept with her, and why the Master called her Adelaide. Second in the Crossed Stars. 10/OC
1. Real Snow

**Real Snow**

The Doctor knew almost immediately that there was something wrong with Caroline. He didn't know what it was, or why, but he knew there was something. She had been fine for the first few of their adventures after leaving Donna, if a bit uncertain because suddenly she was the only one, but she'd seemed to be growing more comfortable.

However, before he'd realized it, she'd shifted. And it bothered him that he didn't know why, because then he couldn't help her. He'd asked, once, but Caroline had refused to tell him, saying it wasn't something he should worry about, she was alright.

But he knew she wasn't, and it distracted him. Well, Caroline normally distracted him, but now more than normal. He couldn't stop worrying that she may want to leave him.

He knew she should, and she did as well. They both knew it would be better in the long run. But neither of them had actually wanted to do it, or at least that's what he'd thought.

But maybe he was wrong.

Maybe Caroline was preparing to leave him.

And he'd have to listen.

For now, however, she hadn't said anything and he didn't want to jinx anything by asking.

They stepped out of the TARDIS together, her arm wrapped around his. They did that more often now, unless they were running somewhere, and then he would take her hand and she would laugh and they'd be off. But for simple trips, for the first few moments when they stepped out of the TARDIS, he liked to wrap her arm in his.

Before, he'd barely realized how often he actually touched her. Originally, it had just been to remind her that he was there, that someone was listening. But then he'd started to take her hand because he wanted to, he wanted to know she was close by. And it had taken him until Rose, until he'd seen the woman's expression whenever she looked at them, for him to actually realize it.

Rose's expressions hadn't stopped him. It just made him certain about his actions.

Caroline looked up at the falling snow, smiling. "Real snow."

The Doctor laughed. He was very glad Caroline tended to wear some kind of long sweater. Even if it wasn't that thick, it seemed to give her some warmth against the cold, and that was enough.

Together, they walked into the Victorian market, and Caroline stepped a bit closer to the Doctor to avoid the crowd. He knew she didn't mind, especially when she had someone with her. He managed to spot a boy standing by a stall. "You there, boy. What day is this?"

"Christmas Eve, sir."

"What year?"

The boy frowned. "You thick or something?"

Caroline giggled as the Doctor pouted. "Oi. Just answer the question."

"Year of our Lord 1851, sir."

"Right." The Doctor nodded. "Nice year. Bit dull."

"Doctor!" the shout made both of them turn, frowning as they searched for one, who was shouting or, two, what current alien threat there was. "Doctor!"

"Who," he frowned, "me?"

Swapping to holding Caroline's hand, they ran in the direction the shouts had been coming from, finally skidding to a stop in an alley that had a woman backing away from a bolted door. "Doctor!"

The Doctor hurried up to the woman. "Don't worry, don't worry. Stand back. What have we got here?" the doors moved and whatever was pushing into it snarled. "Ooo. Okay, I've got it. Whatever's behind that door, I think you should get out of here."

But the woman wasn't listening "Doctor!"

"No, no. I'm standing right here. Hello."

She frowned. "Don't be stupid. Who are you?"

"That's Caroline," he pointed at her, "and I'm the Doctor."

"Doctor who?"

"Just the Doctor."

The woman shook her head. "Well, there can't be two of you." As she spoke, another man, dressed in the clothing of the day, ran up on Caroline's side. "Where the hell have you been?"

"Right then. Don't worry," the man stepped forwards. "Stand back. What have we got here then?"

"Hold on, hold on. Who are you?"

"I'm the Doctor." The two time travelers' eyes widened. "Simply, the Doctor. The one, the only, and the best. Rosita, give me the sonic screwdriver." The woman handed him something.

Caroline shook her head. "The what?"

"Now, quickly, get back to the TARDIS."

"Back to the what?"

The other Doctor turned to Caroline and the Doctor, the two so shocked they'd let go of each other's hands. "If you could stand back, sir, ma'am. This is a job for a Time Lord."

"Job for a what lord?"

The doors in front of them burst open and a large, bear-like creature with a robotic face ran out.

"Oh, that's different," the Doctor shrugged, at the same time the other Doctor said, "oh, that's new."

And then they both pointed their sonics at the creature, shouting in unison, "allons-y!" The two men looked at each other and Caroline stared open mouthed. She knew it was entirely possible that the Doctor could run into a past or future version of himself, though she had a feeling the TARDIS would likely have some built-in mechanism to stop that from happening. But it was possible, entirely possible, that the Doctor would encounter a future version of himself, given the fact he didn't seem to recognize the man.

But this man also didn't recognize him, so Caroline was almost certain that this wasn't any version of the Doctor. That, of course, brought up the question of who this man was.

"I've been hunting this beast for a good fortnight," the other Doctor said. "Now, step back, sir." He didn't have to worry about Caroline since she was already standing against the far wall.

Of course, that did become a problem when the beast leapt against the opposite wall. The Doctor grabbed Caroline's shoulder to pull her back behind him again. "Some sort of primitive conversion," he said, "like they took the brain of a cat or a dog."

"Well, talking's all very well," the other Doctor said. "Rosita?"

"I'm ready." Rosita handed him a large coil of rope.

The other Doctor uncurled it to reveal a lasso. "Now, watch and learn." He threw it up and managed to catch the beast in one try. "Excellent. Now then, let's pull this timorous beastie down to earth." He tugged on the rope but, instead of pulling the creature down to him, he was pulled up after the creature when it began to climb.

"Or not," Caroline said.

"I might be in a little bit of trouble," the other Doctor called down.

The Doctor shook his head. "Nothing changes. I've got you." But when the Doctor grabbed the rope, the creature just pulled him off the ground as well.

"You idiots!" Rosita shouted after them.

"You expected them to be anything but?" Caroline asked quietly. Even if this other man wasn't the Doctor exactly, he had enough of his mannerisms that being an idiot, especially in circumstances like this, should have been expected. After all, Caroline could admit that the Doctor was an idiot, even if she did think he was a brilliant man…some of the time. She turned around, listening to the two men bicker. "Cut the rope." The creature would get away, of course, but she'd rather keep either man from getting too injured.

The only problem was that she couldn't find anything to cut with.

Rosita nodded and ran down an alleyway, the two of them following the sounds of the two men. She grabbed an ax as they went and managed to reach the top floor of the warehouse just as the beast moved to leap out the window, letting Rosita cut the rope and keep the two men from following.

The women turned to look at them, and the first thing the two men did was laugh.

|C-S|

They were still laughing when the group walked down the stairs back outside. "Well, I'm glad you think it's so funny," Rosita said, huffing. "You're mad. Both of you. You could've got killed!"

"But evidently we did not," the other Doctor said, stepping forward to stand beside Rosita, the Doctor moving beside Caroline. "Oh, I should introduce Rosita. My faithful companion. Always telling me off."

The Doctor grinned. "Well, they do, don't they. Rosita. Good name." He turned to Caroline. "This is Caroline, isn't she lovely?"

Rosita nodded at Caroline before turning to the other Doctor. "Now I'll have to go and dismantle the traps. All that for nothing. And we've only got twenty minutes till the funeral, don't forget." She started to walk away. "Then back to the TARDIS, right?"

The Doctor frowned. "Funeral?"

"Oh, long story. Not my own, not yet." The man rubbed his back. "Oh, I'm not as young as I was."

The Doctor shrugged. "Well, not as young as you were when you were me."

The other Doctor frowned. "When I was who?"

"You really don't recognize me?"

"Not at all."

"But you're the Doctor," the Doctor said carefully. "The next Doctor. Or the next but one. A future Doctor anyway." He held up a hand. "No, no, don't tell me how it happened. Although…I hope I don't just trip over a brick. That'd be embarrassing. Then again, painless. Worse ways to go."

Caroline shrugged. "Depends on the brick."

The other Doctor shook his head. "You're gabbling, sir. Now may I ask, who are you, exactly?"

"No, I'm…er…I'm just…Smith. John Smith. But I've, we've, heard all about you, Doctor. Bit of a legend, if I do say so myself."

"Modesty forbids me to agree with you, sir. But yes. Yes, I am."

Caroline raised an eyebrow. "A legend with certain memories missing." Given the Doctor's reactions, he really believed that this man was a future version of himself. But…he acted like this current Doctor. He even had the same phrase! The Doctor had explained regeneration a bit more after she'd actually seen him do it, and he'd made it clear that while his appearance and personality would change, he'd still be the same man at heart - or hearts. There was no chance that this man before them, especially one in some unidentifiable point in his future, would have the exact same catchphrase.

It just made no sense.

The other Doctor frowned at her. "How do you know that?"

The Doctor shrugged. "You've forgotten me."

The man sighed. "Great swathes of my life have been stolen away. When I turn my mind to the past, there's nothing."

"Going how far back?"

"Since the Cybermen. Masters of that hellish wall-scuttler and old enemies of mine, now at work in London town. You won't believe this, Mr. Smth, Miss…"

"Attwater."

He nodded. "Miss Attwater, but they are creatures from another world."

The Doctor widened his eyes in a method that made Caroline wonder how it was possible he could lie and face down alien threats so easily; his acting could be atrocious. "Really. Wow."

"It's said they fell onto London, out of the sky in a blaze of light. And they found me." He frowned, voice getting quieter. "Something was taken. And something was lost." He looked up at the Doctor. "What was I like, in the past?"

The Doctor shook his head. "I don't think I should say. Sorry. Got to be careful with memory loss. One wrong word…"

"It's strange, though." The other Doctor studied them carefully. "I talk of Cybermen from the stars and you don't blink, Mr. Smith and Miss Attwater."

The Doctor chuckled. "Ah, don't blink. Remember that?" the man said nothing. "Whatever you do, don't blink? The blinking and the statues? Sally and the angels? No?"

The other Doctor just stared at him. "You're a very odd man."

"Hmm, I still am. Something's wrong here."

Suddenly, the other Doctor turned. "Oh, the funeral! The funeral's at two o'clock." He spun back around to them. "It's been a pleasure, Mr. Smith, Miss Attwater. Don't breathe a word of it."

The Doctor pouted, leaning forward. "Oh, but can't we come with you?"

"It's far too dangerous. Rest assured, I shall keep this city safe." The man turned around for a moment before looking back. "Oh, and…er, merry Christmas, Mr. Smith, Miss Attwater."

The Doctor nodded. "Merry Christmas, Doctor." Once the man was a bit of the way away, the Doctor turned to look at Caroline. "Thoughts?"

"He's not you."

"What makes you say that?"

"He acts too much like you." The Doctor pouted. "You said regeneration changes you. If that man is a future version of you, then shouldn't he be different than how you currently act? The two of you should be separate entities with some similarities, of course, but not as much as the two of you share. And…you hugged him. Did he have two hearts?" that had been what had convinced him about Jenny, so long ago.

The Doctor shook his head.

"Then he's not you."

"But who is he?"

Caroline smiled. "I do believe that's something the Doctor will figure out."

The Doctor grinned and held out his hand for Caroline. Then, together, they followed the other Doctor through the alleys of London. Thankfully, he didn't get that far, just standing a bit away from where one ended, watching a funeral procession with Rosita beside him.

"The late Reverend Fairchild, leaving his place of residence for the last time. God rest his soul." He turned to Rosita. "Now, with the house empty, I shall effect an entrance at the rear while you go back to the TARDIS. This is hardly work for a woman."

Rosita scoffed. "Oh, don't mind me saving your life. That's work for a woman, isn't it?"

"The Doctor's companion does what the Doctor says. Off you go."

Rosita walked off in a huff. The Doctor gripped Caroline's hand tighter, as though daring her to try and walk away, and she stood on her toes for a moment to be closer to his height. "Definitely not you."

He grinned as they watched the other Doctor walk carefully towards the back door of the house. The time travelers simply went the other way, using his sonic to get inside. And then the Doctor opened the other door before the man actually managed to get it open. "Hello."

The other Doctor frowned. "How did you get in?"

Caroline pointed behind them. "Front door."

"I'm good at doors." The Doctor frowned at the thing in the other man's hand. "Er, do you mind my asking, is that your sonic screwdriver?"

"Yes. I'd be lost without it." He held up what was obviously a regular screwdriver.

The Doctor's eyes widened. "But that's a screwdriver. How's it sonic?"

"Well…er…it makes a noise." He hit it against the doorframe. "That's sonic, isn't it? Now, since we're acting like common burglars, I suggest we get out of plain view." The Doctor just stepped back to let the other man walk inside, and go straight to what they quickly realized was a library.

"This investigation of yours, what's it about?" the Doctor didn't sound that casual as he asked, but the other Doctor didn't notice.

"It started with a murder."

"Oh, good," he grinned before pausing. "I mean bad."

"Who was it?"

"Mr. Jackson Lake, a teacher of mathematics from Sussex. He came to London three weeks ago and died a terrible death."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "Cybermen?"

"It's hard to say. His body was never found. But then it started. More secret murders, then abductions. Children, stolen away in silence."

He glanced around at the room. "So whose house is this?"

"The latest murder. The Reverend Aubrey Fairchild, found with burns to his forehead, like some advanced form of electrocution."

"But who was he? Was he important?"

The other Doctor narrowed his eyes at them. "You ask a lot of questions."

The Doctor shrugged. "We're your companions."

The man allowed himself a quick chuckle. "The Reverend was a pillar of the community, a member of many parish boards. A keen advocate of children's charities."

"Children again. But why would the Cybermen want him dead? And what's his connection to the first death, this Jackson Lake?"

The other Doctor straightened slightly. "It's funny. I seem to be telling you everything, as though you engendered some sort of trust." He frowned. "You seem familiar, Mr. Smith. I know your face. But how?"

The Doctor did seem to have a face that made people want to talk. It was the thing that had opened Caroline up to him so easily, made her, for once, actually want to talk and make her observations and questions heard. Normally, she'd just be quiet, even if she had a burning question. But with the Doctor, she didn't worry about any of that, she just asked her question, made her comment, because the Doctor was almost always careful not to tell her that an idea was stupid.

Though she did know that wasn't what this other Doctor was talking about. It was obvious that this man believed himself to be the real Doctor, even if he wasn't, and since the only alien he ever really mentioned was the Cybermen, it was possible they had something to do with it.

The question just remained who he actually was.

The Doctor studied the other man carefully, glancing at something on his jacket. "I wonder. I can't help noticing you're wearing a fob watch."

"Is that important?"

"Legend has it that the memories of a Time Lord can be contained within a watch." He held out a hand. "Do you mind?" the man actually gave him the watch. "It's said that if it's opened…" but when the Doctor did so most of the gears fell to the ground. "Oh. Maybe not."

The other Doctor shrugged. "It was more for decoration."

"Yeah." The Doctor swallowed. "Anyway, alien infiltration."

"Yes." The trio separated, searching the room, though Caroline did try to stay as far away from the other Doctor as she could. He kept giving her odd looks and she was just waiting for the moment he tried to tell her that this wasn't the place for a woman. Though she was glad he hadn't chosen to comment on the fact she was a woman wearing pants. "Just look for anything different. Possibly metal. Anything that doesn't seem to belong. Perhaps a mechanical device that could fit no earthly engine." As quietly as the Doctor could, he used his sonic to scan the room, though it wasn't that quiet. "It could seem to be organic, but unlike any organism of the natural world. Shush!" he held up a hand, stopping. "What's that noise?"

The Doctor hid the sonic behind his back. "Oh, it's just me, whistling." He did a mediocre attempt at whistling to sound like the sonic. "I wonder what's in here, though." He walked to the desk that the sonic had appeared to focus on, opening it. "Ah," he withdrew two metal cylinders. "Different and metal, you were right. They're infostamps." He paused. "I mean, at a guess. If I were you, I'd say they worked something like this."

He pressed one end of one of them and images were projected onto the wall in front of them. "See? Compressed information. Tons of it." He frowned, watching the images. Caroline could identify a few of them, enough to know it was history. "That is the history of London, 1066 to the present day. This is like a disc, a Cyberdisc." He frowned, beginning to mumble to himself, Caroline moving to stand next to him in order to hear. She much preferred to have all of the information. "But why would the Cybermen need something so simple? They've got to be wireless. Unless…they're in the wrong century. They haven't got much power. They need plain old basic infostamps to update themselves."

Caroline glanced to the side, where the other Doctor had been standing, only now the man looked quite a bit paler and was sitting in a chair, looking weak. "Are you all right?"

The man waved her off. "I'm fine."

The Doctor moved to crouch in front of him, Caroline standing behind him. "No, what is it? What's wrong?"

"I've seen one of these before," the other Doctor gingerly took one of the infostamps. "I was holding this device the night I lost my mind. The night I regenerated." He frowned, touching his head like it was paining him. "The Cybermen, they made me change. My mind, my face, my whole self. And you were there." He looked up at the Doctor in surprise. "Who are you?"

"A friend. I swear."

"Then I beg you, John. Help me."

The Doctor grinned. "Ah. Two words I can't refuse." He stood quickly. "But it's not a conversation for a dead man's house. It'll make more sense if we go back to the TARDIS…your TARDIS. Hold on. I just need to do a little final check. Won't take a tick." Caroline stayed with the other Doctor as the Doctor began opening doors throughout the room. "There's one more thing I cannot figure. If this room's got infostamps, then maybe, just maybe, it's got something got something that needs infostamping." He opened a door to reveal a large metal robot with the same face as the creature before, a Cyberman no doubt. "Okay." He closed the door again, turning around. "I think we should run."

He ran forwards, grabbing Caroline's hand and the other Doctor's arm as the Cyberman burst through the door. "Run, Doctor!" the other Doctor was stumbling slightly and the Doctor had to keep shoving him. "Now, Doctor!"

"Delete!" the Cyberman shouted, in a way that reminded Caroline of the Dalek's call of 'exterminate'. "The Doctor will be deleted!"

They reached the front door only for a second Cyberman to appear. "Delete!" Behind them, the first broke through another door.

"Stairs!" the Doctor pulled them both back and up the stairs. "Can't lead them outside!" Letting go of Caroline, he grabbed something at random, only to open an umbrella, but he just threw that away and grabbed a sword from the wall.

"Delete!"

"I'm a dab hand with a cutlass," the Doctor flourished the weapon. "You don't want to come near me when I've got one of these. This is your last warning." The Cybermen kept walking forward. "No? Okay, this is really your last warning!" they didn't listen. "Okay, I give up." The Doctor started backing up towards where Caroline and the other Doctor were standing, safely out of the way on an upper landing.

"Delete!"

"Listen to me properly!" the Cybermen struck at him, but he blocked them. "Whatever you're doing stuck in 1851, I can help! I mean it! I'm the only person in the world who can help you! Listen to me!"

"Delete!"

The Doctor grimaced. "I'm the Doctor. You need me. Check your memory banks. My name's the Doctor. Leave this man alone! The Doctor is me!" he managed to kick the front Cyberman in the chest and push both of them down the stairs, though the aliens quickly righted themselves.

"Delete!"

"The Doctor, remember? I'm the Doctor! You need me alive. You need the Doctor, and that's me!" his back was to the landing and the Cybermen were still advancing, nearly about to hit him, when there was a brilliant beam of light. The time travelers turned in shock as the Cybermen's heads exploded, seeing the other Doctor standing there still holding an infostamp. "Infostamp with a Cyclo-Steinham core. You ripped open the core and broke the safety." He grinned. "Zap! Only the Doctor would think of that."

The other Doctor looked down at the infostamp in shock. "I did that. Last time."

"Come here," the Doctor touched the man's shoulders, steadying him. "You'll be okay."

The other Doctor frowned at him. "You told them you were the Doctor. Why did you do that?"

"Oh, I was just protecting you."

He stepped back, shaking his head. "You're trying to take away the only thing I've got, like they did." Then he frowned, his voice falling quieter. "They stole something, something so precious, but I can't remember." He paused. "What happened to me? What did they do?"

The Doctor grinned. "We'll find out. Together."

|C-S|

It was night by the time the other Doctor was able to lead them to where Rosita was waiting. As they'd walked the Doctor had asked Caroline if she was cold at all, they had been out in the air for a long time, but she only shook her head. For some reason, she didn't really feel that cold, even if she was just wearing a rather thin sweater over a tank top. Though, she supposed, the adrenaline was probably keeping her from actually noticing anything was wrong.

The Doctor had still offered to give her his coat.

He'd also explained, very quietly so to keep the other Doctor from hearing him, what had happened one of the last times he'd faced down the Cybermen. It had been when he had lost Rose, so she already knew some of the story, but this time he told her a bit more, or at least as much as he could, about how they had been created then, and what their fate had been.

The moment Rosita spotted the other Doctor she ran forwards to hug him. "Doctor! I thought you were dead!"

The man stepped back, straightening. "Now then, Rosita. A little decorum."

"You've been gone for so long." She turned to the Doctor and Caroline. "He's always going this, leaving me behind. Going frantic."

"What about the TARDIS?"

Rosita grinned. "Oh, she's ready. Come on." She took the other Doctor's arm and lead him away. Caroline and the Doctor, in much the same fashion, linked arms to follow.

It looked like the man and his companion had set up base in a stables, though it didn't look that neat, with unopened suitcases and clothes scattered about.

"You were right though, Rosita," the other Doctor said when they entered. "The Reverend Fairchild's death was the work of the Cybermen."

The Doctor looked around the space. "So, you live here?"

"A temporary base, until we rout the enemy. The TARDIS is magnificent, but it's hardly a home." He stepped into one of the stalls and began to wash his face.

The Doctor glanced at Caroline. That most certainly didn't sound like any Doctor she knew. "And where's the TARDIS now?"

"In the yard."

"Er…what's all this luggage?"

"Evidence. The property of Jackson Lake, the first man to be murdered." The other Doctor turned. "Oh, but my new friend is a fighter, Rosita, much like myself. He faced the Cybermen with a cutlass. I'm not ashamed to say, he was braver than I. He was quite brilliant." As the man spoke, the Doctor stepped to the side and quickly began to scan the luggage, though he wasn't that quiet. "Are you whistling again?"

The Doctor started. "Yes. Yes, I am, yeah. Yeah." He glanced at Rosita, who'd noticed the sound, and held up a finger in a 'shh' gesture before lifting a suitcase from the pile.

"That's another man's property!"

He shrugged. "Well, a dead man's." He opened it and Caroline moved to stand next to him, not wanting to stand too far out in the open. "How did you two meet, then?"

"He saved my life," Rosita smiled. "Late one night, by the Osterman's Wharf, this creature came out of the shadows. A man made of metal. I thought I was going to die. And then, there he was. The Doctor."

He nodded. "Caroline just kept running into me. Like destiny." He grinned at her. "She's been helping me ever since."

Rosita nodded. "Can you help him?" her voice was quieter now, like she was trying to keep the other Doctor from hearing, but it was obvious he could. "He has such terrible dreams. Wakes at night in such a state of terror."

The other Doctor walked up to them all. "Come now, Rosita. With all the things a Time Lord has seen, everything he's lost, he may surely have bad dreams."

"Yeah." The Doctor looked back into the luggage. "Oh, now. Look." He pulled out an infostamp, holding it up for everyone to see. "Jackson Lake had an infostamp."

The other Doctor frowned. "But how? Is that significant?"

"Doctor," the Doctor straightened, "the answer to all this is in your TARDIS. Can we see it?"

The man grinned. "Mr. Smith, Miss Attwater, it would be my honour." He turned and led them to the courtyard outside the stable, pausing for a moment to take in the wonder, before standing beside Rosita.

 **A/N: Welcome to the second part of the Crossed Stars. As a refresher, Caroline Attwater is a quiet observant human the Doctor took on as a companion after her assistance with Adipose Industries (her previous place of employment). I picture her looking like Felicity Jones.**


	2. Real Love

**Real Love**

The time travelers stared in shock because this was not a TARDIS before them, this was an air balloon. They'd figured out that the other Doctor wasn't actually a Time Lord, but this was something different. This was as strange as having a normal screwdriver you called sonic because when you hit it against something it made a noise.

"There she is!" the other Doctor said. "My transport through time and space. The TARDIS."

"You've got…a balloon."

The man nodded. "TARDIS. It stands for Tethered Aerial Release Developed In Style. Do you see?"

The Doctor nodded slowly. "Well, I do now. I like it. Good TARDIS. Brilliant. Nice one." He walked around it. "And it is inflated by gas, yeah?"

"We're adjacent to the Mutton Street Gasworks. I pay them a modest fee." He walked over to a young man waiting nearby. "Good work, Jed!" He pulled out a few bills and gave some to the boy, clapping him on the shoulder.

"Glad to be of service, sir."

The Doctor eyed the amount of cash in his hand. "You've got quite a bit of money."

He shrugged. "Oh, you get nothing for nothing. How's that ripped panel, Jed?"

"All repaired. Should work a treat. You never know, maybe tonight's the night, Doctor. Imagine it, seeing Christmas from above."

The other Doctor smiled sadly. "Not just yet, I think. One day, I will ascend. One day soon." With a nod, Jed left.

"You've never actually been up?"

Rosita shook her head. "He dreams of leaving, but never does."

"I can depart in the TARDIS once London is safe," the other Doctor said in a voice that sounded like he'd said this many times before. "And finally, when I'm up there." He looked up at the sky. "Think of it, John. The time and the space."

"The perfect escape." The Doctor put his hands in his pockets, bouncing on his feet. "Do you ever wonder what you're escaping from?"

"With every moment."

"Then do you want me to tell you?" the other Doctor and Rosita looked at him in shock. "Because I think I've worked it out now. How you became the Doctor. What do you think? Do you want to know?"

It took the other Doctor a long moment before nodding. The Doctor glanced at Caroline before gesturing for everyone to return to the stables. They all took seats on suitcases, the Doctor leaning forward on his knees, with Caroline beside him and the other pair across from them.

"The story begins with the Cybermen," the Doctor began. "A long time away, and not so far from here, the Cybermen were fought, and they were beaten. And they were sent into a howling wilderness called the Void, locked inside forever more. But then a greater battle rose up, so great that everything inside the Void perished. But, as the walls of the world weakened, the last of the Cybermen must have fallen through the dimensions, back in time, to land here. And they found you."

The other Doctor nodded. "I found them, I know that. But what happened?"

"At the same time, another man came to London. Mr. Jackson Lake. Plenty of luggage, money in his pocket. Maybe coming to town for the winter season, I don't know. But he found the Cybermen too. And just like you, exactly like you, he took hold of an infostamp."

The man shook his head. "But he's dead. Jackson Lake is dead. The Cybermen murdered him."

"You said no body was ever found," Caroline reminded him. "And you kept his suitcases, but you've never opened them."

"I told you the answer was in the fob watch. Can I see?" the Doctor held his hand out for it again, and the man handed it to him in shock. He flipped it over and held up the engraved side. "JL. This watch is Jackson Lake's."

Rosita looked at the man in shock. "Jackson Lake is you, sir?"

"But I'm the Doctor."

"You became the Doctor because the infostamp you picked up was a book about one particular man." He pressed the end of the infostamp, projecting it onto the wall, displaying various different men and, given that this was the Doctor's infostamp and what she knew about regenerations, Caroline could only guess they were all of his past faces. "The Cybermen's database. Stolen from the Daleks inside the Void, I'd say, but it's everything you could want to know about the Doctor." The image paused on this current Doctor's face.

Jackson gasped. "That's you."

He nodded. "Time Lord, TARDIS, enemy of the Cybermen. The one and the only. You see, the infostamp must have backfired. Streamed all that information about me right inside your head."

Jackson looked down at the ground, shoulders falling. "I am nothing but a lie."

"No, no, no, no, no." The Doctor moved to crouch before Jackson again, making the man look at him. "Infostamps are just facts and figures. All that bravery, saving Rosita, defending London town, hmm? And the invention. Building a TARDIS. That's all you."

"And what else?" Jackson looked up. "Tell me what else."

The Doctor frowned. "There's still something missing, isn't there?"

"I demand you tell me, sir. Tell me what they took."

"Sorry. Really, I am so sorry, but that's an awful lot of luggage for one man. Because an infostamp is plain technology. It's not enough to make a man lose his mind. What you suffered is called a fugue. A fugue state, where the mind just runs away because it can't bear to look back. You wanted to become someone else, because Jackson Lake had lost so much."

A church bell tolled in the distance, counting the hours.

"Midnight," Rosita said quietly. "Christmas Day."

Jackson looked past their shoulders into the distance, eyes wide. "I remember…Oh, my God…" his face fell into his hands. "Laura. They killed my wife. They killed her." He shook with sobs and Rosita reached over to comfort him, leaving the two time travelers to look away.

That is, until the infostamp in the Doctor's hand beeped. He turned and grabbed the one they'd brought along from the Reverend's house, that one beeping as well, before standing and turning in a small circle until the beeping got noticeably louder when directed at one of the trunks. The Doctor opened it. "Oh, you found a whole cache of infostamps."

Rosita looked up from comforting Jackson. "But what is it? What's that noise?"

"Activation. A call to arms. The Cybermen are moving!" the Doctor turned and ran out of the stables, Caroline following a second later. They could only see the shadows of the Cybermen, but it was clear that they were all marching in their direction.

Rosita ran up just as a group of children walked past, ushered along by an older man with two earpieces clearly not from the nineteenth century. "What is it?" she asked them. "What's happening? That's Mr. Cole. He's Master of the Hazel Street Workhouse. Maybe he's taking them to prayers."

The Doctor shook his head. "Oh, nothing as holy as that." He walked forward so that he was walking beside the man. "Can you hear me? Hello? No? Mr. Cole, you seem to have something in your ear. Now, this might hurt a bit, but if I can just…" he reached for his sonic, but there was a growling nearby, the same type of creature that they had encountered earlier. "Ah. They're on guard. Can't risk a fight." He looked at the children. "Not with the children."

"Where are they going?" Caroline asked.

Jed walked up. "They all need a good whipping, if you ask me. There's tons of them. I've just seen another lot coming down from the Ingleby Workhouse down Broadback Lane."

"Where's that?"

"This way!" Rosita said, turning and running down an alley, only to reach another group of children, the men leading them with the same earpieces in. "There's dozens of them."

"But what for?"

As they watched, the group stopped by a large set of wooden doors. Suddenly, they opened and two Cybermen stepped out, all of the children cowering. "You will continue," the old man leading them said, voice without emotion. "You will enter the Court of the Cyberking. March. That is an order. March!"

The children did. Any that tried to run were scared back by the creatures the Cybermen controlled.

"That's the door to the sluice," Rosita said, pointing. "All the sewage runs through there, straight into the Thames."

"Yeah, that's too well guarded. We'll have to find another way in." The group turned, only to find two Cybermen standing directly behind them. "Whoa!" the Doctor pushed both humans behind him. "That's cheating, sneaking up. Do you have your legs on silent?"

A woman walked between the Cybermen, standing before them and studying the trio. "So, what do we have here?"

"Listen. Just walk towards me slowly," the Doctor held up a hand for the woman. "Don't let them touch you."

The woman only smirked. "Oh, but they wouldn't hurt me, my fine boys. They are my knights in shining armor, quite literally."

"Even if they've converted you, that's not a Cyber speech pattern. You've still got free will. I'm telling you, step away."

"There's been no conversion, sir. No one's ever been able to change my mind. The Cybermen offered me the one thing I wanted. Liberation."

Rosita frowned at her, shaking her head in shock. "Who are you?"

The woman sneered. "You can be quiet. I doubt he paid you to talk. More importantly, who are you, sir, with such intimate knowledge of my companions."

"I'm the Doctor."

"Incorrect," one of the Cybermen said. "You do not correspond to our image of the Doctor."

He nodded. "Yeah, but that's because your database got corrupted. Oh, look, look, look." He held up his infostamp. "Check this. The Doctor's infostamp." He tossed it to one of the Cybermen. "Plug it in. Go on. Download."

The Cyberman studied it. "The core has been damaged. This infostamp would damage Cyberunits."

The Doctor shrugged. "Oh, well. Nice try."

The infostamp beeped. "Core repaired. Download." It plugged the infostamp into its chest. "You are the Doctor."

The man grinned and waved. "Hello."

"You will be deleted."

The Doctor raised his arms. "No, no. Oh, but let me die happy. Tell me, what do you need those children for?"

The woman shrugged. "What are children ever needed for? They're a workforce."

"But for what?"

"Very soon now, the whole Empire will see. And they will bow down in worship."

"And it's all been timed for Christmas Day. Was that your idea, Miss…?"

"Hartigan. Yes. The perfect day for a birth, with a new message for the people. Only this time, it won't be the words of a man."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "The birth of what?"

"A birth, and a death. Namely, yours." She stepped back. "Thank you, Doctor. I'm glad to have been part of your very last conversation. "Now, delete them."

"Delete!" the Cybermen moved forward, but were all stopped when a beam of energy struck them from behind and Jackson ran up.

"At your service, Doctor," he grinned, wearing a series of infostamps as a belt.

"Shades!" Miss Hartigan called. "Shades!"

The Doctor grabbed Caroline's hand. "Run! Come on!"

"Shades!"

"One last thing." Rosita paused as they ran past Miss Hartigan, punching her squarely in the face.

The Doctor frowned. "Can I say, I completely disapprove." They started to run again. "Come on!"

They ran until the humans needed to stop for breath. Caroline, despite never really being a runner, had developed quite a skill at if after spending so long around the Doctor, but she still got tired after a long series of just straight running. The Doctor let her lean on his arm as they breathed.

"That stronghold down by the river," the Doctor told the two people who were actually from that time period. "I need to find a way in."

"I'm ahead of you," Jackson nodded. "My wife and I were moving to London so I could take up a post at the university. And while my memory is still not intact, this was in the luggage." He held up some legal documents. "The deeds. Fifteen Latimer Street. And if I discovered the Cybermen there, in the cellar, then…"

"That might be our way in. Brilliant!"

"There's still more. I remember the cellar and my wife, but I swear there was something else in that room. If we can find that, perhaps that's the key to defeating these invaders. So, onwards!" he turned and ran off.

The Doctor turned to Rosita. "Maybe you should go back…"

"Don't even try," Rosita said with a glare, and Caroline just raised her eyebrows. She knew it was because he wanted to keep them safe, but she was fairly certain that both of them had proved themselves just as adept as Jackson at dealing with alien threats.

They weren't going anywhere.

With a nod, the Doctor took Caroline's hand again and let Rosita led the way to the home in question, trusting her to know the way through the streets better than them. They reached Jackson just as he approached a Cyberman standing guard at the door to the cellar, though Jackson just hit it with another infostamp.

The Doctor moved into the cellar, and the high-tech device set up in the middle of the room. "It must've been guarding this. A Dimension Vault. Stolen from the Daleks again. That's how the Cybermen traveled through time. Jackson," he looked up at the man, "is this it? The thing you couldn't remember?"

But he shook his head. "I don't think so. I just can't see. It's like it's hidden."

The Doctor frowned at the device. "Not enough power. Come on!" he walked into the tunnel the Cyberman had been standing next to. "Avanti!"'

They continued a bit more cautiously, now in an enclosed area. "What do the Cybermen want?" Rosita asked as they walked.

"They want us. That's what Cybermen are. Human beings with their brains put into metal shells. They want every living thing to be like them."

They paused when they reached the entrance of a workroom, looking down at the children busy working. "Upon my soul," Jackson breathed.

"What is it?"

"It's an engine," the Doctor said. "They're generating electricity, but what for?"

"We can set them free." Jackson moved forward, but the Doctor pulled him back, simultaneously running back to check a panel they'd passed.

"Power at ninety percent. If we stop the engine, the power dies down, the Cybermen'll come running." He frowned when the screen flickered, tapping it. "Ooo. Hold on. Power fluctuation. That's not meant to happen."

"It's going wrong?"

"No, it's weird. The software's rewriting itself. It's changing." The panel sparked and the Doctor stepped back. "Whoa! What the hell's happening? It's out of control."

Caroline's eyes widened. "It's accelerating."

"When it reaches a hundred, what about the children?" Rosita asked.

"They're disposable. Come on!" he led them back to the workroom just as an alarm sounded and every Cyberman in the room readied their blasters, preparing to murder all of the children.

Jackson and Rosita began to use the infostamps on the Cybermen, stopping them from harming anyone, while Caroline and the Doctor ran to guide the children to the tunnels. "Right. Now, all of you, out! Do you hear me? That's an order! Every single one of you, run!"

"Fast as you can," Caroline shouted, pushing a few along.

"There's a hot pie for everyone, if you leg it!"

"Go!" Jackson added.

"Rosita, get them out of the sluice gate. Once you're out, keep running! Far as you can! Come on, come on, come on!"

Rosita followed the children as they ran down the tunnels. "Turn right at the corner! Fast as you can. And don't stop! Keep running! Keep running!"

Once they were all gone, the Doctor ran to a gauge by one of the machines. "It's some sort of starter motor, but starting what?"

Caroline turned to check that all of the children were gone, but she found her attention distracted by Jackson, who was staring up. "That's my son," the man said. "My son."

"Doctor!" she called, drawing his attention.

"What?"

"They took my son! No wonder my mind escaped. Those damned Cybermen, they took my child! But he's alive, Doctor. Frederick!"

The Doctor turned to look at the boy. "Come on!"

"No, he's too scared. Stay there! Don't move! I'm coming." Jackson turned and ran up the stairs that would have brought him up to his son, but he was thrown backward by an explosion that started a fire. "I can't get up there. Fred!"

"They've finished with the motor," the Doctor realized. "It's going to blow up."

"What are we going to do, Doctor? What are we going to do?"

The Doctor just grinned, drawing the sword he'd stolen from the Reverend's house. "Come on, Jackson. You know me." He grabbed a nearby rope and cut it from its tether, sending him straight into the air, thankfully landing on the platform Fredrick was standing on. "Oh, that's it. Hello. Now, hold on tight. Don't let go." Once he was certain the boy was secure, the Doctor used the rope to swing across the room, away from the fire, and back down the stairs to where the two humans waited. Jackson rushed towards his son, and the Doctor smiled. "Merry Christmas."

Caroline glanced at the room around them. "We should go!"

The Doctor nodded, grabbing her hand and pulling her from the room, Jackson and his son running behind them. "Head for the street," he ordered.

"Come on, Doctor!" Jackson called when they felt an explosion. "Hurry up!"

The Doctor grabbed a bit of technology from the device before Caroline was able to pull him outside. "Gotcha!" They ran through the streets until they reached a river and watched the machine, a massive Cyberman, rise from the water. "It's a CyberKing!"

Jackson looked at him. And a CyberKing is what?"

"It's a ship. Dreadnought class, front line of an invasion. And inside the chest, a Cyberfactory, ready to convert millions." The Doctor stared up at it for a moment, listening to the screams of people as the machine began to walk through the streets, and squeezed Caroline's hand before stepping away. "Head south, all of you. Go to the parkland."

"But where are you going?"

"To stop that thing."

Jackson stepped forward. "But I should be with you!"

"Jackson, you've got your son. You've got a reason to live."

Jackson raised his eyebrows. "And you haven't?"

Caroline stepped forward. "You are going to survive this, Doctor." She knew there was no way she was going to be able to convince him to let her follow him, but that didn't mean she couldn't force him to be safe and return to her. "Don't give me another horrible Christmas."

The Doctor nodded, moving almost like he wanted to step forward, before just turning and running off.

Caroline watched him go for a moment before turning to Jackson and his son. "You heard the Doctor. We're going south." Her voice was surprisingly strong for being separated from the Doctor for the first time in a long while.

Jackson nodded and they all ran off through the streets until they managed to run directly into Rosita. "Oh, sir," Rosita grinned. "I thought I'd lost you."

He looked at his son in wonder. "My son, Rosita. This boy is my son."

Before Rosita could comment there was a nearby explosion and they ducked into a nearby doorway for safety. With wide eyes, they spotted a hot air balloon rising over the streets of London, a very specific balloon that Jackson recognized. "It's the TARDIS. She's flying."

Crowds, previously panicking, paused in shock. "Who the hell is that?" a young man asked.

Caroline smiled. "His name is the Doctor, and he's lovely."

They watched as the Doctor managed to hover in front of the CyberKing. Caroline couldn't take her arms off the sight, knowing the Doctor was up there, knowing he was in danger and she couldn't actually do anything about it. She did, however, notice when all of the Cybermen exploded. Whatever the Doctor had done, it had worked.

But then the CyberKing began to sway. "He's killed it!" Jackson cheered. "Whatever he did, he's killed it!"

"But it's going to fall!" Rosita cried, and everyone began to run again, trying to avoid the falling robot.

It was only a few more seconds before the robot vanished completely into a swirl of energy and Caroline cheered.

Jackson nodded. "Well, I'd say he used that Dimension Vault to transfer the wreckage of the CyberKing into the Time Vortex, there to be harmlessly disintegrated." He glanced at Caroline and chuckled at her expression. "Oh, I've picked up a lot. Ah, but here." He put down Fredrick and leapt onto a lamppost, addressing the gathered crowd of relieved and shocked civilians. "Ladies and gentlemen, I know that man, that Doctor on high. And I know that he has done this deed a thousand times. But not once. No, sir, not once, not ever, has he been thanked. But no more. For I say to you, on this Christmas morn, bravo, sir! Bravo! Bravo! Bravo, sir!"

The entire crowd took up his chant. Caroline moved to stand closer to the wall, smiling, but unable to stand too close to the crowd.

And as she stared up at the Doctor, no doubt celebrating inside the air balloon, she pulled a fob watch from her pocket and slowly twisted it in her hands, not really looking at it, just looking for something to hold.

It didn't even occur to her to study the engravings and recognize them as the writing the Doctor had scattered about the TARDIS on sticky notes.

|C-S|

The moment the Doctor crash landed again, Caroline rushed up to him, breaking through the group of thankful people in order to hug him tightly. The Doctor grinned the moment he spotted her, practically lifting her into the air as he laughed, both thankful the other was safe.

Jackson, who'd left Frederick with Rosita, watched them fondly.

Eventually, once they'd finished embracing and the Doctor had managed to disperse the crowd, the pair walked up to him. Together, all three walked through the market that they'd first arrived in, though the Doctor and Caroline were walking arm in arm.

"The city will recover, as London always does," Jackson said, looking around at the people already rebuilding. "Though the events of today will be history, spoken of for centuries to come."

The Doctor nodded. "Yeah. Funny that."

"And a new history begins for me," Jackson sighed. "I find myself a widower, but with my son and a good friend."

The Doctor grinned. "Now, take care of that one. She's marvelous."

Jackson nodded. "Frederick will need a nursemaid and I can think of none better. But you're welcome to join us. We thought we might all dine together at the Traveler's Halt." The Doctor looked away, but Jackson persisted. "A Christmas feast in celebration, and in memory of those we lost." The Doctor said nothing, and Caroline squeezed his arm. "You won't stay?"

"Like I said, you know me."

But Jackson shook his head. "No, I don't think anyone does."

By that point, they'd reached the TARDIS, safely right where the time travelers had left it.

"Oh!" Jackson's eyes widened. "And this is it. Oh! Oh, if I might, Doctor. One last adventure?"

The Time Lord grinned, unlocking the door. "Oh, be my guest."

Jackson stepped inside, stopping on the ramp and turning around in wonder. "Oh. Oh my word. Oh. Oh, goodness me." He walked up to the console. "But this is…but this is nonsense!"

The Doctor shrugged. "Well, that's one word for it."

"Complete and utter, wonderful nonsense. How very, very silly. Oh, no," Jackson shook his head, rubbing it. "I can't bear it. Oh, it's causing my head to ache." He ran out of the TARDIS. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no." The time travelers followed him to where he stopped, a few steps away from the TARDIS, looking much better now that he'd stepped back outside. "Oh! Oh, gracious. That's quite enough. I take it this is goodbye."

The Doctor nodded. "Onwards and upwards."

"Tell me one thing. All those facts and figures I saw of the Doctor's life, you were never alone. All those bright and shining companions! And now you have her?"

The Doctor looked down at Caroline. "Yes." He knew that, one day, Caroline Attwater would have to leave him, for some reason or another. And it was very likely it would be his fault, like it had for countless people before, like it had just been for Donna.

Then he'd be alone again.

And he knew that he really, really shouldn't have let her stay on the TARDIS. But he couldn't help himself. Because he was almost certain that he loved her.

It was a strange thought. He'd spent so long mourning Rose, so long loving her that he'd hurt Martha in the process. But once he'd met Donna he'd healed, gotten better, gotten to know Caroline. If he'd met Caroline with Martha, right after the loss of Rose, he wouldn't have been able to let himself love her.

But she'd come at the perfect point. He'd come just as he'd been daring to open his hearts again, and she'd slipped right in.

"But not forever." The Doctor looked up sharply at Jackson, frowning. "All of your companions, Doctor, as brilliant as they were, all of them left."

He nodded, swallowing hard. "Because they should. Or they find someone else. And some of them…some of them forget me." He held on even tighter to Caroline then, if that was at all possible. "I suppose…in the end, they break my heart."

Jackson nodded firmly. "That offer of Christmas dinner. It's no longer a request, it's a demand. In memory of those we've lost."

The Doctor had to take a deep breath before he waved a hand. "Oh, go on then."

Jackson looked shocked. "Really?"

"Just this once. You've actually gone and changed my mind. Not many people can do that." He smiled. "Jackson, if anyone had to be the Doctor, I'm glad it was you."

He laughed. "The feast awaits! Come with me. Walk this way."

"We certainly will. Merry Christmas to you, Jackson."

"Merry Christmas indeed, Doctor, Miss Attwater." With a final grin, Jackson turned and walked away, leaving the time travelers alone again.

They watched him for a moment before Caroline turned so that she could better look at him. "Thank you, Doctor."

He frowned. "For what?"

"Making this Christmas better than last year's."

They had never actually spoken about last year. He knew that she had seen him for the first time on Christmas Eve, when he'd teleported down onto earth from the Titanic, and then again a few days later when she'd spotted his TARDIS across a river. But they'd never talked about anything else.

His frown deepened when he saw the tears in her eyes. "What happened last year?" She didn't answer immediately. "Caroline?"

"My parents died." His eyes widened. "A car accident. Not at Christmas, a week before. But it was so close…"

She'd left the gifts out. He'd seen them, when they'd gone to her home so that she could pick up anything she wanted, he'd seen the boxes sitting out on a table. And he'd wondered why they were there, why anyone would bother leaving an empty gift box out on a table.

But if they had been her last presents from her parents, her last memories of them…she wouldn't have been able to just throw them away.

And she'd never mentioned it. Not in this entire year that she'd been traveling with him. She'd never mentioned that her parents were dead. He'd wondered, of course he'd wondered, because she'd never asked to return home and visit them, he'd never even heard her calling them. Part of him had wondered if they'd just had a falling out, but then he'd remember the gifts, then he'd remember seeing that, clearly, she didn't want to let them go.

But she'd never mentioned them. She'd never given him a hint that she had lost her parents so close to when she first met him.

He felt guilty that he hadn't noticed anything. Well, he did notice that there was something wrong, that something was bothering her, but he never pushed her when she told him that she was alright. He'd never bothered to ask about her family, not even noticing when she'd direct conversations away from the topic.

He hadn't noticed her the way he should have.

The Doctor pulled Caroline to him, hugging her tightly.

Now he never wanted to let her go.

She had no life to return to after he left her. Her parents were dead, he'd destroyed her job, her friends had all moved on, thinking she was off traveling the world. She'd return to a life of solitude if he left her behind.

A safe life, where she wouldn't have to run from murderous robots, but a lonely life.

He couldn't do that to her yet, he wouldn't. He wouldn't hurt her like that.

The Doctor would keep Caroline with him for as long as she let him.

Because he still had so many stars to show Caroline Alice Attwater, the orphaned girl at Christmas.

He wasn't alone, not anymore.

 **A/N: The Doctor finally admit his feelings for Caroline, which means that something very exciting is going to happen soon :)**

 **Notes on reviews:**

 _Hainako: Glad to know you're looking forward to the next story :)_

 _WhiteWolfChick: Thank you so much! I hope this one will be just as good too._

 _time-twilight: I do have a fanfiction in mind with a Time Lady who's related to the Master, but I won't say if it's also true here. The pair do know each other, but I can't say how yet :)_


	3. Another Bus

**Another Bus**

As it turned out, Christmas was not the only thing bothering Caroline, because she was still obviously upset. She hid it more this time, attempting to keep him from worrying, but he noticed, he was paying more attention to her now. And, yet again, she pretended that nothing was wrong.

He did press her harder this time, reminded her that he truly wanted to help her but the only way he could would be to know what was wrong. Caroline had smiled, squeezed his hand, and thanked him for his concern, but she was perfectly fine, perfectly happy.

She was lying, but he couldn't get her to tell him the truth.

Eventually, he'd just had to take a break because she was starting to get a bit annoyed at him and he didn't want that. So he'd tried to pretend he didn't notice when she'd stare off into the distance, a frown on her face, fingering something in her pocket.

But he did notice. He always noticed Caroline.

Instead, he'd attempted to find adventures he knew she'd love. He'd been doing that already, of course, but now he sculpted them to things he'd heard her mention at one point or another.

Today wasn't one of his best ones, he had to admit. They were tracking a hole in reality that the TARDIS had picked up, really a routine thing. He'd tried to make it a little better by finding her some chocolate covered strawberries, which had certainly brightened her expression.

And then she had snatched a chocolate Easter egg for him once she realized what holiday they had actually landed during, so now they were both walking through London with some delectable chocolate sweet, following the small gizmo he had built to track the hole.

It was getting annoying since the hole was difficult to spot, but they'd known it would be.

Now, they headed towards a bus that Caroline informed him would take them to where the Doctor now swore the hole was. She was very glad she'd lived in London long enough to learn all of the bus lines since she didn't have a car of her own because otherwise, she was fairly certain the Doctor would have gotten completely and utterly lost.

They just managed to reach the bus in question before it pulled out. "You're just in time, mates," the driver said, chuckling.

The Doctor scanned the psychic paper since Caroline hadn't thought to bring her Oyster card and together they found a seat behind a black haired woman. He snatched a strawberry from Caroline's container, making her glare at him, before carefully putting it back.

He'd been quite happy when, recently, he discovered her fondness for strawberries. He supposed it did explain her constant smell, though he had never actually seen her eat them until this moment. But she did love them and any time he was able to get them for her he was happy as well.

He loved her, he wanted to see her happy.

Though he hadn't actually told her that yet.

He'd been tempted to, countless times. But it had never felt right. Besides, he was a centuries old time traveling alien and she was a human. He had enough sense to know that it would never work, that he was saving both of them hurt if he never told her.

That way, when he either left or lost her, it wouldn't hurt her as much as it could.

The Doctor leaned forward to the woman sitting in front of them. "Hello, I'm the Doctor, and this is Caroline, isn't she lovely?" the woman didn't turn around. "Happy Easter." He looked back at Caroline. "The funny thing is, I don't often do Easter. I can never find it. It's always at a different time. Although I remember the original. Between you and me, what really happened was…"

He was cut off by the device he'd built beeping in his hand. "Oh. Sorry," he passed the egg to the woman, Caroline putting down her strawberries, and he mentally made a note to get her some more, "hold on to that for me. Actually, go on, have it. Finish it. It's full of sugar and I'm determined to keep these teeth." He grinned before looking down at the device. "Ah. Oh, we've got excitation. I'm picking up something very strange."

"I know the feeling," the woman in front of them mumbled.

"Rhondium particles," the Doctor continued, "that's what we're looking for. This thing detects them. Look, this should go round, that little dish there." He flicked the dish.

"Right now, a way out would come in pretty handy. Can you detect me one of those?"

"Ah," the Doctor cheered, "the little dish is going round."

"Fascinating."

Caroline's eyes widened. "And round."

"Whoa!" the device sparked in his hand, sending up a little puff of smoke.

"Excuse me," a blonde woman said, glancing back around at them. "Do you mind?"

"Sorry. That was my little dish."

The black-haired woman turned to face them. "Can't you turn that thing off?"

The Doctor frowned. "What was your name?"

"Christina."

"Christina, hold on tight. Everyone, hold on!" one or two of the people actually listened, grabbing onto the backs of their seats as the bus gave quite a big jerk, sparks flying and windows shattering.

A bright light filled the bus as it jolted even more, and then everything was still. The light faded to reveal what looked to be normal daylight, though Caroline and the Doctor were almost certain it wasn't, and that was confirmed when they stood to see a desert out the window. They were the first out the door.

"End of the line," the Doctor said. "Call it a hunch, but I think we've gone a little bit further than Brixton."

Most of the other passengers toppled out of the bus. "It's impossible," the blonde woman said, staring at the sky. "There are three suns. Three of them."

"Like with all those planets that were up in the sky," a man said.

"But it was Earth that moved back then, wasn't it?"

"Oh, man," the first man shook his head, "we're on another world."

"It's still intact, though," the driver commented, staring at the smoking, partially destroyed remains of the bus. "Not as bad as it looks, and the chassis's still holding together. My boss is gonna murder me."

"Can you still drive it?"

"Oh, no, no, no. The wheels are stuck." He pointed at the wheels, obviously buried in the sand. "Look at them, they're never going to budge."

"Ready for every emergency," Christina said, pulling a pair of sunglasses from the rucksack she'd been carrying.

The Doctor only shrugged. "Me too." He pulled out his 'brainy specs', as he liked to call them, and flashed them with his sonic until they got a bit darker, slipping them on. Then he pulled a pair of sunglasses out of his pocket for Caroline, making her laugh.

He crouched down to the sand, letting a bit drift through his hand, as Caroline stepped up to them. "And what're your names?"

"Caroline Attwater, she's lovely," the Doctor pointed to her, "and I'm the Doctor."

"Name, not rank."

He just shrugged. "The Doctor."

"Surname?"

"The Doctor."

"You're called the Doctor?"

"Yes, I am."

"That's not a name. That's a psychological condition."

The Doctor ignored her. "Funny sort of sand, this. There's a trace of something else." He tasted a bit of it before immediately spitting it out. "Glah. Not good."

Caroline frowned. "What's it taste like?" she presumed it didn't just taste like sand, given the Doctor's expression as he stood.

"Nothing. Never mind." But the Doctor took her hand, squeezing it, and Caroline wondered when she'd actually get him to a point when they'd be alone enough for him to tell her what was in the sand.

"Hold on a minute," one of the men stormed up to him. "I saw you, mate. You had that thing, that machine. Did you make this happen?"

The Doctor groaned. "Oh, humans on buses, always blaming me." And then he paused, remembering what had happened the last time they'd been trapped on a bus, and glanced at Caroline. She was glaring at the man and he just tightened his grip on her hand, hoping that this time they wouldn't get anywhere near to what had happened on Midnight. He never wanted to see her go through that again. "Look, look, if you must know, we were tracking a hole in the fabric of reality. Call it a hobby, trying to get her interested." He nodded towards Caroline. "But it was a tiny little hole. No danger to anyone. Suddenly it gets big, and we drive right through it."

"But then where is it?" the driver asked. "There's nothing. There's just…sand."

"All right. You want proof?" He stepped away from Caroline for just a moment, not wanting her too close to the hole in the fabric of reality. "We drove through this." He threw a handful of the sand into the air and it rippled, revealing that there was, indeed, something there.

"And that's?" Christina asked, an eyebrow raised.

"A door. A door in space."

"So what you're saying is, on the other side of that is home? We can get to London through there?"

"The bus came through," the Doctor stepped back to Caroline, this time it being her who took his hand, "but we can't."

The driver didn't seem to hear him fully. "Well then, what are we waiting for?" he ran towards the portal.

"No, no, don't!"

"I'm going home, mate!"

"I said don't!" the Doctor tried to reach him first, but he was too late.

The driver was ripped apart by the energy of the portal, turning to a skeleton before their eyes with a horrible scream.

"He was a skeleton, man. He was bones. Just bones!"

The Doctor turned to look at the bus. "It was the bus. Look at the damage. That was the bus protecting us. Great big box of metal."

Christina nodded. "Rather like a Faraday cage."

"Like in a thunderstorm, yeah?" the other young man asked, one arm around the blonde woman as he comforted her. "Safest place is inside a car because the metal conducts the lightning right through. We did it in school."

"But if we can only travel back inside the bus…a Faraday cage needs to be closed." Christina gestured to it. "That thing's been ripped wide open."

The Doctor shrugged. "Well, slightly different dynamics with a wormhole. There's enough metal to make it work, I think. I hope."

"Then we have to drive five tons of bus, which is currently buried in the sand, and we've got nothing but our bare hands. Correct?"

Caroline frowned. "Nine and a half tons." The Doctor glanced at her. "That's about how much a bus weighs. We didn't lose much, the shell just opened."

He glanced at the bus before nodding. "Your point still stands, yes," he added to Christina.

"Then we need to apply ourselves to the problem with discipline. Which starts with appointing a leader."

The Doctor took a step forward. "Yes. At last. Thank you. So…"

"Well, thank goodness you've got me," Christina interrupted and the Doctor couldn't help but look shocked. "Everyone do exactly as I say. Inside the bus immediately."

"Is it safe in there?"

Christina turned to the man. "I don't think anything's safe anymore, but if it's a choice between baking in there and roasting out here, I'd say baking is slower. Come on. All of you. Right now. And you," she paused, smirking at the Doctor. "The Doctor."

He nodded, grinning now. "Yes, ma'am."

They all climbed back onto the bus, most of them returning to where they had been sitting previously. The Doctor took that moment, as Christina explained her multiple-point plan, to quietly tell Caroline exactly what he had detected in the sand. He was extremely careful to keep anyone else on the bus from hearing what he was saying; he didn't want Caroline to have to deal with another bus of angry and frightened humans.

She was shocked, understandably so, to learn that he'd tasted death, for lack of a better word, in the sand, even more so when he didn't know what could have caused this to happen. He didn't know when or where they were, he didn't know if everything turning to sand had been a natural process of if some organism had caused it.

But he made certain to tell Caroline that she was safe, he would keep her safe that time. He wouldn't let anything happen to her or him.

It did help that it was obvious they could go outside this time, so she wasn't trapped in a confined space again. Not having the threat of a Xtonic sun was quite helpful with keeping her, and him, calm.

"Point five," Christina continued, noticing the Doctor talking quietly to Caroline but not commenting on it, having noticed the woman was worried and presuming he was comforting her. "The crucial thing is, do not panic. Quite apart from anything else, the smell of sweat inside this thing is reaching atrocious levels. We don't need to add any more. Point six. Team identification. Names. I'm Christina. This man is apparently the Doctor."

He waved, finally looking up from Caroline. "Hello. This is Caroline Attwater, isn't she lovely?"

Christina nodded. "Just." She turned to the man sitting next to her. "And you?"

"Nathan." The man waved as well.

"I'm Barclay."

"Angelica," the blonde woman nodded. "Angelica Whittaker."

"My name's Louis," the final man said, an older man with his wife. "Everyone calls me Lou. And this is Carmen."

"Excellent. Memorize those names. There might be a test. Point seven. Assessment and application of knowledge. Over to you, the Doctor."

He frowned. "I thought you were in charge."

Christina shrugged. "I am. And a good leader utilizes her strength. You seem to be the brainbox. So, start boxing."

The Doctor, after giving Caroline's hand a squeeze, stood from his seat. "Right. So, the wormhole. We were in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was just an accident."

"No," Carmen said, shaking her head, "it wasn't. That thing, the doorway? Someone made it for a reason."

The Doctor frowned. "How do you know?"

"She's got a gift," Lou took over for his wife in much the same way the Doctor occasionally did for Caroline, though it happened far less now, if she started to get too uncomfortable or too embarrassed. "Ever since she was a little girl, she can just tell things. We do the lottery twice a week."

"You don't look like millionaires," Christina commented.

"No, but we win ten pounds. Every week, twice a week, ten pounds." He smiled at his wife. "Don't tell me that's not a gift."

"Tell me, Carmen. How many fingers am I holding up?" the Doctor held up three fingers behind his back.

"Three," Carmen answered instantly, and the Doctor changed the number. "Four."

He nodded, impressed. "Very good. Low-level psychic ability, exacerbated by an alien sun. What can you see, Carmen? Tell me, what's out there?"

Carmen looked off into the distance for a few seconds before speaking. "Something…something is coming. Riding on the wind, and shining."

"What is it?"

She turned back to him with wide eyes. "Death. Death is coming."

"We're going to die!" Angela sobbed.

Barclay shook his head. "I knew it man, I said so."

"We can't die out here! No one's going to find us."

Christina sighed. "This isn't exactly helping."

"You can shut up too. We're not your soldiers," Barclay snapped.

"That's not doing any good."

"Quiet," Lou scolded.

"Will we be bones, like the bus driver?"

"Stop whimpering, all of you!"

"All right now, stop it," the Doctor ordered, glancing at Caroline in worry. This wasn't good, panic wasn't good, panic was too similar. "Everyone, stop it!" thankfully, everyone actually listened that time, the bus going quiet except for Angela's crying. He moved to the woman, crouching before her, taking her hands. "Angela, look at me. Angela? Angela? Answer me one question, Angela. That's it. At me, at me." He smiled when the woman finally looked up. "There we go. Angela, just answer me one thing. When you got on this bus, where were you going?"

Angela shook her head. "Doesn't matter now, does it?"

"Answer the question."

She sighed. "Just…home."

"And what's home?"

"Me and Mike. And Suzanne. That's my daughter. She's eighteen."

The Doctor nodded. "Suzanne. Good." He looked towards Barclay. "What about you?"

The man shrugged. "Don't know. Going round Tina's."

"Who's Tina? Your girlfriend?"

Barclay chuckled. "Not yet."

The Doctor gave a cheeky grin, winking. "Good boy." He turned to the other man. "What about you, Nathan?"

"Bit strapped for cash," Nathan shrugged. "I lost my job last week. I was going to stay in and watch TV."

"Brilliant. And you two?"

Lou nodded. "I was going to cook."

"It's his turn tonight. Then I clear up."

"What's for tea?"

"Cops. Nice couple of chops and gravy. Nothing special."

The Doctor grinned. "Oh, that's special, Lou. That is so special. Cops and gravy, mmm. What about you, Christina?"

The woman looked a bit shocked about being included. "I was going so far away."

He nodded to each of them as he named their tasks. "Far away. Cops and gravy. Watching TV. Mike and Suzanne and poor old Tina."

"Hey!" Barclay laughed.

"Just think of them. Because that planet out there," the Doctor nodded out a window, "all three suns, wormholes and alien sand, that planet is nothing. You hear me? Nothing, compared to all those things waiting for you. Food and home and people. Hold on to that, because we're going to get there. I promise. I'm going to get you home."

|C-S|

Thankfully, this group of trapped humans on a bus were much more amenable to being ordered about then the last one. They all sprang into action, Nathan and Barclay hunting for pieces of metal paneling while Angela waited in the front of the bus. Caroline, the Doctor, and Christina went outside to supervise.

Given the fact that Caroline had barely spoken, she knew that Christina was wondering why the Doctor was so adamant to keep her with him. He was clearly a genius about all things alien, while she was just there. But she didn't really care, not at that moment, because right now she was just thankful no one, apart from that one moment, had actively tried to blame the Doctor for everything that was going on.

Though they hadn't been trapped for that long, so who knew what would happen as time went on.

"Here we go," Barclay called as he and Nathan walked up, paneling in hand.

"That's my boys!" the Doctor cheered, grabbing a piece. "See, we lay a flat surface between the bus and the wormhole, like duckboards, and we reverse onto it."

"Let some air out of the tires," Christina added. "Just a little bit. It spreads the weight of the bus, gives you more grip against the sand."

The Doctor nodded. "Oh, that's good."

"Holidays in the Kalahari."

"Yeah, but those wheels go deep," Barclay told them.

Christina shrugged. "Then start digging."

"With what?"

"With this." As she spoke, Christina pulled a folded shovel from her pack.

The Doctor unfolded it as he handed it to Barclay. "Got anything else in there?"

"Try that." Christina pulled out an ax. "It might help with the seats."

Nathan nodded, taking it. "Thanks."

"I can't find the keys," Angela called.

The Doctor nodded to Caroline and the woman moved closer to the door. She was much more talkative now, very different than before, but he still liked to help her along. "Buses don't have keys. There's a master switch, with one button to start and the other to stop."

Angela nodded. "Right. Hold on." She looked for a moment. "Oh, I've got it. Here we go. Hold tight! Ding, ding." She pressed her foot on the accelerator and pressed the button. The bus rumbled for a moment, the engine clearly starting, before there started to be a horrible grinding noise and Angela quickly stopped it.

The Doctor grimaced. "Ooo, that doesn't sound too good." He and Christina made their way to the engine, Caroline coming up behind them, and opened the panel to look at the engine. It was smoking and covered in sand. "Oh, never mind losing half the top deck. You know what's worse?" he reached out and grabbed a handful. "Sand. Tiny little grains of sand. The engine's clogged up."

Christina stepped back, addressing their other passengers. "Anyone know mechanics?"

Barclay looked up from where he was digging. "Me. I did a two week NVQ at the garage. Never finished it, but…"

The Doctor nodded him towards the engine. "Off you go, then. Try stripping the air filter. Fast as you can." He took Caroline's hand, leading them off a bit further into the sand. "Back in two ticks."

"Wait a minute," Christina jogged up after them. "You're the man with all the answers. I'm not letting you out of my sight."

He didn't argue so they continued on, walking over a few of the dunes before glancing back at Christina. "Easier if you left that backpack behind."

"Where I go, it goes."

"A backpack with a spade and an ax. Christina, who's going so far away, and yet scared by the sound of a siren. Who are you?"

Christina scoffed. "You can talk. Let's just say we're equal mysteries." She glanced at Caroline again, though by now Caroline was used to it. Most people they met, even some of the Doctor's old companions, had been a bit surprised to see her there. She wasn't the type of person you expected to be traveling with the Doctor, she knew that.

Most of them were loud and eager, ready to defend the Doctor to the ends of the earth and strong enough to face down an alien threat. Caroline was all of those things, except loud, but the quietness tended to drown everything else out in their minds.

The Doctor had seen past that. And she was increasingly thankful he had.

"Come on then," Christina prompted. "Tell me. If Carmen's right, if that wormhole's not an accident, then what is it? Has someone done this on purpose?"

The Doctor shrugged. "I don't know, but every single instinct of mind is telling me to get off this planet right now."

"And do you think we can?"

"I live in hope."

"That must be nice." They walked a bit further. "It's Christina de Souza. To be precise, Lady Christina de Souza."

The Doctor nodded, chuckling. "Ooo, that's handy, because I'm a Lord."

"Seriously? The Lord of where?"

The Doctor shrugged. "It's quite a big estate."

Christina shook her head, frowning. "No, but there's something more about you. That device you were carrying, and the wormhole. Like you knew. And the way you stride around this place, like…"

He raised an eyebrow. "Like?"

"Like you're not quite…"

The Doctor coughed, eyeing the woman as well, and continued to walk with Caroline. He much preferred when humans just thought he was a smarter one of them, made it easier to convince them to do what he wanted. Learning he was actually a Time Lord tended to throw them off.

He would have to be more careful; he didn't know how Christina would react to learning who he actually was, and he didn't want to risk it until he was certain. He wouldn't do that to Caroline again.

"Anyway," the Doctor continued when Christina didn't start walking, "come on. Allons-y."

"Oui, mais pas si nous allons vers un cauchemar."

The Doctor laughed. "Oh, I like you." They rounded another dune, and the Doctor frowned. "Oh, but I don't like that." The horizon looked hazy, the sign of some sort of storm approaching.

"Storm clouds. Must be hundreds of miles away."

Caroline frowned. "But getting closer."

"If that's a sandstorm, we'll get ripped to shreds."

"It's a storm. Who says it's sand?" the Doctor turned to Caroline. "Phone?"

She reached for her pocket, but she almost wasn't surprised when there was nothing there. She hadn't felt it the moment he asked, and since she hadn't actually checked after the bus had gone through the wormhole she knew right where it would be. "It fell out in the bus."

The Doctor nodded and they all turned to run away from the cloud back towards the bus. Caroline led the way in, but the Doctor did help look for it since he was the only other one who knew what her phone looked like. Caroline was still the one to find it. "Here."

Christina shook her head. "You're hardly going to get a signal. We're on another planet."

"Bit of hush, thank you," the Doctor ignored her. "Got to remember the number, very important number." He typed in a number.

"Hello, Pizza Geronimo?"

He grimaced. "And again. Ah. Seven six, not six seven."

"This is the Unified Intelligence Taskforce. Please select one of the following four options. If you want to…"

"Oh, I hate those things."

"If you keep your finger pressed on zero," Angela offered, most of the other passengers having run onto the bus as well to see what was happening, "you get through to a real person. I saw it on Watchdog."

He nodded. "Thank you, Angela."

"UNIT helpline," they reached a real person. "Which department would you like?"

He took the phone off of speaker, but Caroline was standing close enough that she could, thankfully hear almost everything. "Listen, it's the Doctor. It's me."

There were a few seconds before Caroline heard someone speak again. "Doctor?" and she froze because she recognized the voice. "This is Captain Erisa Magambo. Might I say, sir, it's an honor."

The Doctor blinked. "Did you just salute?"

"No."

"Erisa, this is about the bus. HQ said you're at the tunnel, yeah?"

"And where are you?"

"I'm on the bus." He turned and looked out the window again. "But apart from that, not a clue, except it's very pretty and pretty dangerous."

"A body came through here. Have you sustained any more fatalities?"

The Doctor glanced at the other passengers, lowering his voice for a moment. "No, and we're not going to." He returned to normal again. "But I'm stuck. I haven't got the TARDIS, and I need to analyze that wormhole."

"We have a scientific advisor on site, Dr. Malcom Taylor. Just the man you need. He's a genius."

The Doctor scoffed. "Oh, is he? We'll see about that."

There was another pause before there was the sound of a door closing and Magambo spoke again, though it was clear she wasn't holding the phone up anymore. "It's the Doctor."

"No, I'm all right now, thanks," a new man said. "It was just a bit of a sore throat. Although I've got to be honest, a cup of tea might be nice."

"It's the Doctor," she repeated.

The man gasped. "Do you mean the 'Doctor' doctor?" The Doctor rubbed his forehead, glancing up at Caroline and frowning when he saw her expression.

"I know. We all want to meet him one day, but we all know what that day will bring."

The Doctor forced himself to pay attention to the conversation instead of Caroline's face because she was worried and he didn't want that. "I can hear everything you're saying."

"Hello, Doctor?" the man was louder now, clearly having taken the phone. "Oh, my goodness!"

He nodded. "Yes, I am. Hello, Malcolm."

"The Doctor…Cor, blimey. I can't believe I'm actually speaking to you. I mean, I've read all the files."

"Really?" he chuckled. "What was your favorite, the giant robot?" he shook his head. "No, no, hold on. Let's sort out that wormhole. Excuse me." He moved to the front of the bus, guiding Caroline to follow him. He wanted to have a chance to ask her exactly what was wrong without everyone else being able to hear.

"On speakerphone, please," Magambo said as they moved. "I don't want anyone keeping secrets."

"Malcolm, something's not making sense here." He frowned at the sand. "I've got a storm and a wormhole, and I can't help thinking there's a connection. I need a complete full range analysis of that wormhole. The whole thing."

"Well, I've probably got the wrong idea, but I've wired up an integrator. I thought it could measure the energy signature…"

He shook his head. "No. No, no, no, no, no. That'll never work. Listen."

"It's quite extraordinary, though," Malcolm continued, like he wasn't hearing the Doctor. "I'm measuring an oscillation of fifteen Malcolms per second."

The Doctor frowned. "Fifteen what?"

"Fifteen Malcolms. It's my own little term. A wavelength parcel of ten kilohertz operating in four dimensions equals one Malcolm."

"You named a unit of measurement after yourself?"

"Well, it didn't do Mr. Watt any harm. Furthermore, one hundred Malcolms equals a Bernard."

The Doctor chuckled. "And who's that, your dad?"

"Don't be ridiculous. That's Quartermass."

He rubbed his forehead again. "Right. Fine. But before I die of old age, which in my case would be quite an achievement, so congratulations on that; is there anyone else I can talk to?"

"No, no, no, no," Malcolm said quickly, "but listen. I set the scanner to register what it can't detect and inverted the image."

The Doctor paused. "You did what?"

"Is that wrong?"

"No. Malcolm, that's brilliant. So you can actually measure the wormhole…okay, I admit that is genius."

Malcolm sounded like that was the best news he had heard in his entire life. "The Doctor called me a genius."

"I know, I heard."

"Now, run a capacity scan. I need a full report. Call me back when you've done it." The Doctor moved to hang up before pausing. "And Malcolm? You're my new best friend." Then he turned to Caroline. "Are you alright?" he needed to get a picture of the storm to send to Malcolm, but he could take a moment to check on Caroline.

She frowned. "I know Magambo. From the parallel world."

The Doctor knew that, in the most part, Caroline had forgotten what had happened to her in the parallel world. It had taken it a bit longer than it had Donna, but eventually she had. And she'd refused to tell him what it had been like for her. He knew something had gone wrong, somehow, but he didn't know what it was.

He did know that Rose, for a reason she never explained, found Caroline as well as Donna, even if she didn't really need Caroline there. And that if Donna had interacted with UNIT, which was as much as she'd been able to remember, Caroline must have as well.

He hadn't actually thought of the fact that there was a chance Caroline's memories of the parallel world would be triggered by hearing the UNIT officer's voice.

And by her expression now, he knew she was remembering something. "What is it?"

"It was like the Library." She looked up at him. "Everything was wrong."

They could explain away what had happened in the Library. She was the last human to get saved, there was the chance that CAL just didn't have the space to properly download her, so her data had gotten messed up.

But this was different. This was a parallel world where the only other person who'd known something was off was Rose, who was traveling across the universes. Caroline had been as much engrained in the world as anyone else, yet she knew something was off.

He couldn't explain it.

Maybe he should run a few tests on Caroline once they returned to the TARDIS. Just ensure there was nothing wrong with her. Not that he thought there was, he just wanted to be certain.

He'd actually meant to do it after the Library but had completely forgotten about it until that moment.

"Do you remember anything else?" he didn't want her to suffer without him knowing.

Caroline swallowed. "No." He was almost certain she was lying, but now was not the time to press her about it.

He took her hand. "Let's go send Malcolm a picture of the storm." Caroline smiled and he grinned. The pair left the bus again, hoping that they'd be alone, but Christina continued to follow.

However, before they got too far, the Doctor ran back to sonic another cell phone so the humans could contact them if they needed to, giving them Caroline's number. Then he returned to Caroline and Christina.

 **A/N: The Doctor doesn't have much luck on buses, does he?**

 **Notes on reviews:**

 _Hainako: There is a very big reason we don't know anything about **Caroline's** life before the Doctor ;)_

 _time-twilight: It will be a shock, that's for certain :)_

 _X-Lisa-Anne-X: I try to update every weekend. Thank you so much! :)_


	4. Another Kiss

**Another Kiss**

They didn't have to go as far this time to see the storm. The Doctor recorded a bit of it. "Send this back to Earth. See if Malcolm can analyze the storm."

Christina frowned at the storm. "There's something in those clouds. Something shining. Look." They could see something glittering in the clouds.

Caroline nodded. "Like metal." She paused. "Metal in a storm?"

"Did you hear something?" Christina asked suddenly, looking around.

The Doctor held up a hand. "Hold on. Busy."

"There was a noise, like a sort of…Doctor."

The time travelers turned to see the humanoid alien with a large fly head, standing there pointing a weapon at them. It chittered, and the Doctor made a similar series of sounds. "That's wait," he said once he finished. "I shout wait, people usually wait."

Christina laughed. "You speak the language?"

"Every language." He spoke the language again. "That's begging for mercy."

The alien gestured with its weapon. "That means move," Christina interpreted.

The Time Lord grinned. "Ooo, you're learning."

The alien guided them through the desert to a large ship wreck that appeared over a dune. It was obvious that this creature, and possibly more of its species, had crashed here. "These fly things," Christina said, "they must be responsible. They brought us here."

The Doctor shook his head. "No, no, no, no, no. Look at the ship. It's a wreck. They crashed, just like us."

The alien ushered them inside the ship, and instantly Caroline regret taking off her sweater. It was quite cold inside. "Oh, but this place is freezing!" Christina said, in a similar boat to Caroline.

"Mmm. The hull's made of photofine steel. Turns cold when it's hot. Boiling desert outside, freezing ship inside." He glanced at Caroline. "Like going from Pompeii to the Ood Sphere." They entered another chamber of the spaceship. "Oh, this is beautiful. Intact, it must have been magnificent. A proper streamlined deep spacer."

Christina nodded. "I'll remember that as I'm being slowly tortured. At least I'm bleeding on the floor of a really well-designed spaceship."

A second alien joined the first, one of them pressing a button on their suit before chittering again. The Doctor nodded. "Oh, right, good. Yes. Hello. That's a telepathic translator," he told the humans. "He can understand us."

"Still sounds like gibberish to me," Christina shrugged.

"He can understand us," Caroline said quickly. "Not the other way around."

The Doctor nodded, listening to the aliens speak so that he could translate. "'You will suffer for your crimes', et cetera. 'You have committed an act of violence against the Tritovore race.' Tritovores. They're called Tritovores. 'You came here in the two hundred to destroy us'." He frowned. "Sorry, what's the two hundred?"

"The bus," Caroline reminded him.

"Oh," his eyes widened. "No, look, I think you're making the same mistake Christina did. I'm the Doctor, by the way, this is Caroline, she's lovely, and this is Christina." He gestured to the woman. "The Honorable Lady Christina. At least I hope she's honorable. We got pulled through that wormhole. The 200 doesn't look like that normally. It's broken, just the same as you."

The aliens lowered their weapons after discussing it for a moment. "What are they doing?" Christina asked carefully.

"They believe me."

"What, as simple as that?"

He shrugged. "I've got a very honest face." A pause. "And the translator says I'm telling the truth." Christina raised an eyebrow. "Plus the face. Right, first things first." He ran over to the controls. "There's a very strange storm heading out way. Can you send out a probe?" the Tritovore said something. "Oh, they've lost power. Hmm, the crash knocked the mainline crystallography out of synch. But if I can jiggle it back…" he kicked the machine and, thankfully, everything came to life again. "Why, thank you!" he grinned at the Tritovores, who were speaking quickly. "Yes, I am. Frequently. Okay doke, let's launch that probe."

Once he'd sent the probe out, he pressed a few more keys to pull up a screen that showed them where in the universe they were. "The Scorpion Nebula," the Doctor said, nodding. "We're on the other side of the universe. Just what you wanted. So far away." He hit a few more buttons. "The planet of San Helios."

The image shifted to an advanced looking planet that looked nothing like the desert outside the ship. "And that's us?" Christina said in surprise. "We're on another world."

The Doctor nodded. "We have been for quite a while."

"I know, but seeing it like that."

He grinned. "It's good, isn't it?"

"Wonderful."

The Tritovores began to speak again, making the Doctor look back at them. "The Tritovores were going to trade with San Helios. Population of one hundred billion. Plenty of waste matter for them to absorb."

Christina raised her eyebrows. "By waste matter, you mean…"

"They feed off what others leave behind from their behind, if you see what I mean." The Doctor shrugged. "It's perfectly natural. They are flies."

"Charming. Just remind me never to kiss them."

The Doctor looked back up as the image switched to a specific city. "San Helios City.

"That's amazing." Christina looked at the pair of them. "But you've both seen this sort of thing before, haven't you?"

He nodded. "Thousands of times."

"That Lordship of yours. The Lord of where, exactly?"

The Doctor took Caroline's hand. "Of time. I come from a race of people called Time Lords."

Christina looked shocked. "You're an alien?"

"Yeah." He shrugged. "But you don't have to kiss me either."

"You look human."

"You look Time Lord."

"Are you an alien?" she asked Caroline.

The human shook her head. "Just a normal human."

She nodded, looking back at the screen. "So if that's San Helios, all we need to do is find that city. They can help us."

He glanced back at the Tritovores, who began talking again. "I don't think it's that simple." The image shifted to the sand dunes. "We're in the city right now."

"But it's sand. That first image, the temples and things, what's that then, ancient history?"

The Tritovores chittered again. "The image was taken last year."

The humans raised their eyebrows. "It became a desert in one year?"

The Doctor reached down and picked a handful of sand from the ground, letting it fall through his fingers. "I said there was something in the sand. The city, the oceans, the mountains, the wildlife, and a hundred billion people turned to sand. All those voices in Carmen's head. She's hearing them die."

Christina frantically ran her fingers through her head. "But I've got sand in my hair! That's dead people! Ugh, that's disgusting! Ugh!"

"Something destroyed the whole of San Helios," Caroline said.

"Yes, but in my hair!" she tried to shake it out.

Caroline's phone rang and the Doctor answered. "Malcolm, tell me the bad news."

"Oh, you are clever," Malcolm said. "It is bad news. It's the wormhole, Doctor. It's getting bigger. We've gone way past one hundred Bernards. I haven't invented a name for that!"

He frowned. "How can it get bigger by itself?"

"Well, that's why I'm phoning. You'll work it out, if I know you, sir."

"Doctor," Magambo said. "We estimate the circumstance of your invisible wormhole is now four miles, heading upwards. I've grounded all flights above London. We can't risk anyone else falling through."

He nodded. "Good work, both of you."

"But I have to know. Does that wormhole constitute a danger to this planet?"

The phone beeped. "Oh, sorry. Call waiting. Got to go. Yeah?"

"Doctor, it's Nathan. We got those duckboard things down, but…"

"It's my fault," Angela said, sounding like she was crying.

"No, it's not. Don't say that."

He frowned. "Why, what's happened?"

"We kept on turning the engine, but…we're out of petrol. Used it all up. Even if we can get those wheels out this bus is never going to move."

Christina frowned at his expression. "What is it, what's wrong? Doctor, tell me."

"You promised you'd get us home." The Doctor didn't say anything, just looked down at Caroline. "Doctor? Are you still there?"

She squeezed his hand. "You'll do it, Doctor. You'll figure it out."

An alarm sounded behind them and a Tritovore ran to the controls. "It's the probe. It's reached the storm."

"And what's he saying?"

"It's not a storm."

The screen shifted to the image the probe was sending. It most certainly wasn't a storm; it was a cloud of stingrays with an outer metal shell. "It's a swarm," Christina gasped. "Millions of them."

"Billions." One flew immediately at the probe and the image turned to static. "Oh, we've lost the probe. I think it got eaten." He groaned. "Everything on this planet gets eaten."

"How far away is that swarm?"

He shrugged. "A hundred miles. But at that speed, it'll be here in twenty minutes." The Tritovores began to speak again. "No, no, no, they're not just coming for us. They want the wormhole."

"They're heading for Earth?"

"Show the analysis." The Tritovore brought up a 3D image of one of the stingrays. "Incredible," he breathed. "They swarm out of a wormhole, strip the planet bare, then move on to the next world. Start the life cycle all over again."

Caroline nodded. "They make the wormhole."

"But how?" Christina shook her head. "They don't exactly look like technicians. And if that wormhole belongs to them, why are they a hundred miles away?"

The Doctor shrugged, grimacing. "Because they need to be? No, that's bonkers. Hang on." His eyes widened. "Yes. Oh, do you see? Billions of them, flying in formation, all around the planet. Round and round and round, faster and faster and faster, till they generate a rupture in space. The speed of them, and the numbers, and the size, all of that rips the wormhole into existence."

"And the wormhole's getting bigger…"

"Because they're getting closer."

"But how do they get through? Because that wormhole's a killer. We've seen it."

"Exoskeletons made of metal?" Caroline offered, noting it.

The Doctor nodded. "They eat metal and extrude it into the exoskeleton. So their velocity makes the wormhole, then their body makes it safe. Perfect design." He grinned, and for some reason Caroline couldn't help but do the same.

"Those things are going to turn the entire Earth into a desert." Christina looked at the pair of them. "So why exactly are you smiling?"

"Worse it gets, the more I love it."

Christina laughed. "Me too." She glanced at the ship around them. "The thing is, Doctor, Caroline, you're both missing the obvious. We came here through the wormhole, yes? But our Tritovore friends didn't. They came here to trade with San Helios. Therefore, the question is, why did they crash?"

The Doctor nodded. "Ah, good question." He turned to the Tritovores. "Like she said, why did you crash?"

The Tritovores brought them to another room with a large hole in the ground. The trio leaned over to look in. "Oh, yes. Gravity well. Look," he pointed down, "goes all the way down to the engine. So what happened?" the Tritovore said something. "He says the drive system stalled. Ten miles up, they fell out of the sky. But what caused that?"

The Tritovore shrugged, and that time even Christina could translate. "Which means no idea."

"Yeah. But wait a minute." He looked down the hole again. "There's a crystal nucleus down there, yes? And it looks like it survived the crash. If the crystal's intact…oh, yes. That's better than diesel."

Christina raised her eyebrows. "What, you can use the crystal to move the bus?"

"I think so. The spaceship's a write-off, but the 200's small enough."

"How does a crystal drive a bus?"

The Doctor floundered for a way to explain it. "In a super clever outer-spacey way. Just trust me." He crouched by the edge. "There's the crystal! It's fallen to the bottom of the well. Have you got access shafts?" the Tritovore answered. "All frozen. Well, maybe I can open them." He found two earpieces, throwing one to Christina. "Ah! Internal comms. Put that on." He put the other one in his ear and grabbed Caroline's hand again. "You stay here. Keep an eye on the shaft. Tell me if anything happens."

The time travelers turned and hurried back to the control room. Caroline didn't actually know anything about alien technology, but he much preferred to have her with him then just watching a panel with a mysterious human who wouldn't put down her pack. And besides, he knew she wanted to learn, and when was a better time than in the moment.

"If I can use that sunlight to start the automatic maintenance," he said as he worked. "Christina? If you see a panel opening in that shaft, let me know." He plugged in a wire. "Anything now?" Apparently not, because the Doctor kept connecting wires. "Any sign of movement?" More wires. "How's that?" Another bit of the console. "Any result?" And then he paused. "Why, what do you mean? Christina? Christina!"

Before saying anything else, the Doctor turned and ran back to the room, not even pausing to grab Caroline's hand, though she still followed him as he ran to the edge of the shaft. Christina had rigged up a pulley system, obviously intending to go down into the shaft herself to get the crystal. "No!" he soniced the pulley to make her stop, looking down in the hole to check where she was. "Come on. Come on, come on, come on. That's better." Christina said something. "You're about to hit the security grid. Look." Caroline peered down into the hole to see where Christina had stopped; right above a security grid. "Try the big red button." The grid turned off. "Now come back up. I can do that." Unsurprisingly, Christina just continued on downwards. "Slowly."

The time travelers took a seat on the edge of the shaft. "Quite the mystery, aren't you? Lady Christina de Souza, carrying a winch in her back." A pause, and Caroline was quite annoyed about hearing half a conversation, but there wasn't much the Doctor could do about it now. "I had this friend, once. She called me spaceman." He took Caroline's hand at the mention of Donna.

"Well, a little blue box. Travels in more than space. It can journey through time, Christina. Oh, the places I've been. World War One. Creation of the universe. End of the universe. The war between China and Japan." The Doctor reached down and opened Christina's pack. "And the Court of King Athelstan in 924 AD." He pulled out a large golden goblet. "But I don't remember you being there. So what are you doing with this?"

One of the Tritovores, who'd followed the Doctor and Caroline, chittered a question. "It's the Cup of Athelstan," the Doctor explained, "given to the first King of Britain as a coronation gift from Hywel, King of the Welsh. But it's been held in the International Gallery for two hundred years, which makes you, Lady Christina, a thief."

Caroline could see Christina shrugging from up there. "Don't tell me you need the money," the Doctor shook his head. "No, no, no, no, no. If you're short of cash, your rob a bank. Stealing this? That's a lifestyle." He studied the goblet. "Absolutely. Except…that little blue box, I stole it from my own people."

Caroline could hear the roar from where she was sitting. The time travelers stood, peering down to try and see Christina. "We never did find out why the ship crashed. Christina, I think you should come back up." Christina continued down. "Careful. Slowly."

Caroline looked up at the Tritovore. "Do you have an open-vent system?" It nodded. "That's not good."

The Doctor nodded. "It's like when birds fly into the engines of an aircraft." A pause. "It got trapped in the vents, caused the crash. Christina, get out!"

Caroline frowned. "It must be dormant because of the temperature."

"Your body heat is raising the temperature." He glanced down the shaft again. "Not just the crystal. I need the whole bed, the plate thing." Suddenly, he stepped back again and began sonicing the pulley again, pulling Christina back up them as quickly as he possibly could. "Come on, come on. Come on, come on, come on, come on. It's going to eat its way up!" Just as Christina passed the security grid, she pressed the button again, trapping the stingray. "Ooo, she's good." Christina reached the top of the shaft, stumbling into the Doctor's arms. "That's it, that's it, that's it. I've got you. I've got you." He chuckled at something the Tritovore said. "Isn't she just."

Then he stepped back, grabbing the crystal and the plates, and ran back to the control room where the other Tritovore was waiting. "Commander? Mission complete. Now, we've got to get back to the 200, all of us." They chittered. "Oh, don't be so daft. A captain can leave his ship, if there's a bus standing by."

There was a bang and a roar in the ship around them. "What the hell was that?" Christina asked. "Is this place safe?"

"It's the creature; it's not dead." She frowned. "But if they hit a swarm…"

"Do you mean if there's more on board?"

The Doctor nodded. "This ship's built inside a metal sleeve. They can move through the infrastructure, all around us. And those things wake up hungry." He held out a hand to the Tritovores. "Commander, you've got to come with us right now."

"Come back to Earth. We'll find you a home."

"And that's the word of a lady. Come on!"

The Tritovores began to move forwards, but when the ship shook one ran back to fiddle with the controls. He was still there when a stingray burst through the ceiling and dragged off the Tritovore. The second one stepped forward, raising its weapon. "No, don't!" but it was eaten too. The Doctor shook his head. "There's nothing we can do. Run!" he grabbed Caroline's hand and the trio ran from the ship.

They were running when the phone rang again, but the Doctor didn't bother actually talking, because the swarm was getting closer and they needed to get back to the bus. "Not now, Malcom!"

They didn't stop moving until they reached the bus again. "At last!" Nathan said once he saw them. "Where've you been?"

"Get inside! Get them sitting down!" Nathan hurried to do as he was told. "Now then, let's have a look." He held up the panel and crystals.

"So what does that crystal do?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Oh, nothing. Don't need the crystal." He pried it from the panels and tossed it to the side.

"Oh, I risked my life for that!"

"No, no. You risked your life for these." He held up the panels, four separate clamps. "the clamps." He ran around the bus, attaching one to each of the wheels, while Christina and Caroline climbed back into the bus, waiting for the Doctor to run back inside and to the wheel.

"But what are the clamps for?" Christina asked as he lined it up, Caroline coming to stand by his side. "Do they turn the wheels?"

"Yeah, something like that. I just need to fix this." He glanced at Christina. "Have you got a hammer in that bag?"

"Funnily enough." Christina pulled a hammer out of her pack and while the Doctor began to hammer, he passed the phone to Caroline for her to redial.

"Malcolm, it's me."

"I'm ready!"

The Doctor frowned. "Ready for what?"

Malcolm paused. "I don't know. You tell me."

"I'm going to try to get back. But listen, there might be something following us. You need to close the wormhole."

"Would that be a compressed burst of feedback on a counter-oscillation, perchance?"

The Doctor grinned. "Oh, Malcolm, you're brilliant."

"Coming from you, sir, that means the world."

"Doctor," Magambo said. "What sort of something? That wormhole is now measuring ten miles and growing. I need to know the exact nature of the threat."

"Sorry, got to go." Caroline quickly hung up the phone before either UNIT member could say anything else. The Doctor tried to start the bus, but everything just sparked. "Oh, it's not compatible. Bus, spaceship, spaceship, bus. I need to weld the two systems together."

"What do you need?" Caroline asked, guessing it was a metal but not knowing exactly how much.

"I need something non-corrosive. Something…malleable. Something ductile." He turned to Christina. "Something gold."

The woman shook her head. "Oh no you don't."

"Christina, what is it worth now?"

"Hey, hey," Barclay said, coming up to the front holding out a watch, "use this."

"I said gold."

"It is gold."

He sighed. "Oh, they saw you coming." Barclay turned away with a frown. "Christina."

Thankfully, Christina pulled out the goblet, gingerly holding it out to the Doctor. "It's over a thousand years old, worth eighteen million pounds. Promise me you'll be careful."

The Doctor took it. "I promise." He waited for a nod from Christina before placing the goblet on the wheel and taking the hammer to it.

Christina shook her head. "I hate you."

Once he had everything secure, the Doctor looked over his shoulder back at the other passengers. "This is your driver speaking. Hold on tight!"

"But what for?" Barclay asked. "What's he doing?"

"Do as he says," Christina ordered, before looking at the Doctor. "What are you doing?"

Both the Doctor, and Caroline, were too focused on actually getting the bus to get up. "Come on. That's it. You can do it, you beauty. One last trip." The bus lifted out of the sand, hovering a few feet above the ground. "Anti-gravity clamps. Didn't I say?" he twisted the wheel. "Round we go."

"Doctor, they're coming!" Carmen called, and the Doctor checked the driver's mirror to see the stingrays nearly reaching them.

"Do you think this thing will survive the journey back?"

The Doctor could only shrug. "Only one way to find out. Next stop…"

"Planet Earth!"

Pretty much everyone on the bus screamed as they drove through the wormhole again. But the Doctor just kept laughing, especially as they emerged from the tunnel and back into London. He flew the bus into the sky, glancing down at the UNIT soldiers below.

"It's London!" Barclay cheered.

"We're back home!"

"He did it! He did it!"

The Doctor nodded at Caroline and she quickly redialed. "Malcolm, close that wormhole!"

"Yes, sir. My pleasure, sir!" and then the call disconnected.

The Doctor's eyes widened. "He's hung up on me!" Caroline redialed again. "Malcolm!"

"Not now, I'm busy!" and he hung up again.

And again. "Malcolm, listen to me!"

"It's not working!" Malcolm called, sounding exasperated.

"I need that signal. We've got billions of those things about to fly through."

"Well, what do I do?"

"Loop it back through the integrator, and keep the signal ramping up!"

"But by how much?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Five hundred Bernards. Do it now!"

There was a pause, a nervous pause, before Malcolm cheered. "Yes!"

The Doctor glanced back. The wormhole had closed, trapping the stingrays on San Helios, but three of the stingrays had still managed to make it through. UNIT shot down two of the stingrays

"Doctor, it's coming for us!"

"Oh no, you don't!" the Doctor spun the bus, hitting the stingray and knocking it back towards UNIT. Caroline didn't manage to get that good of a grip on the chair the Doctor was sitting in and stumbled backward.

Christina, however, managed to get a grip. She laughed. "Did I say I hated you? I was lying." She grabbed the lapels of the Doctor's suit and, before he could react, kissed him. The other bus passengers applauded, laughing, but Caroline wasn't able to focus on anything but seeing Christina kissing the Doctor.

Thankfully, the Doctor pulled away from Christina as quickly as he possibly could and tried to pretend not to be as disgusted as he felt, turning to face the front of the bus again. "Do not stand forward at this point." He brought the bus down to the middle of where UNIT had set up. "Ladies and gentlemen, you have reached your final destination. Welcome home, the mighty 200."

The passengers applauded again and the Doctor opened the door, letting the rest of the passengers disembark first. Caroline shook her head before looking up at the Doctor. "Caroline…"

"Not now." She turned and climbed out of the bus.

The Doctor rushed to come beside her, flashing his psychic paper to keep either of them from being pulled away by UNIT soldiers for debriefing. "We don't count."

"No, but Doctor…" Christina said, but she was grabbed by a soldier and pulled away.

The time travelers, instead, headed towards Captain Magambo and a man who must be Malcolm. "Doctor," Malcolm said, breathless, barely able to contain his excitement.

"You must be Malcolm!"

Malcolm hugged the Doctor tightly. "Oh. Oh, I love you. I love you. I love you."

"To your station, Dr. Taylor," Magambo ordered.

Malcolm stepped back hurriedly. "Yes, ma'am." He walked away backward. "I love you."

When Magambo turned to the Doctor, she saluted, making the Doctor roll his eyes again. "Doctor, I salute you whether you like it or not." She looked at Caroline. "Who are you?"

"Current companion." The Doctor wrapped an arm around Caroline's shoulders. "Caroline Attwater, isn't she lovely?"

Magambo nodded curtly. "Now, I take it we're safe from those things?"

He shrugged. "They'll start again. Generate a new doorway. It's not their fault, it's their natural life cycle. But I'll see if I can nudge the wormholes onto uninhabited planets. Closer to home, Captain." He turned to gesture at the two young men who had actually been quite helpful on the alien world, ready to do whatever he had needed. "Those two lads. Very good in a crisis. Nathan needs a job, Barclay's good with engines. You could do a lot worse. Privates Nathan and Barclay, UNIT's finest."

"I'll see what I can do." She backed up, motioning for the soldiers to pull the tarp off something sitting in the back of a lorry. "And I've got something for you."

The Doctor grinned at the sight of his TARDIS. "Better than a bus, any day. Hello." Switching to holding Caroline's hand, they hurried up to the TARDIS.

"Found in the gardens of Buckingham Palace."

"Oh, she doesn't mind."

"Now, I've got three dead alien stingrays to clear up. I don't suppose you fancy helping with the paperwork?"

The Doctor smirked. "Not a chance."

Magambo nodded. "Till we meet again, Doctor." She even nodded at Caroline. "Miss Attwater."

The time travelers were just turning to the TARDIS when they heard Christina run up. The Doctor actually had to stop himself from not just walking into the TARDIS because he had rather changed his opinion of Christina after she had kissed him, even if the woman couldn't have known what his opinion of Caroline was since he hadn't even told Caroline herself. "Little blue box, just like you said." Christina smiled. "Right then. Off we go. Come on, Doctor, show me the stars."

He shook his head. "No."

"What?"

"I said no."

"But I saved your life. And you saved mine."

The Doctor shrugged. "So?"

"We're surrounded by police. I'll go to prison."

"Yeah."

"But you were right. It's not about the money. I only steal things for the adventure, and today with you…I want more days like this. I want every day to be like this." Her expression faded as the Doctor didn't say anything. "Why not?"

"People have traveled with me and I've lost them. Lost them all. Never again."

"What about her?" Christina nodded at Caroline. "You let her travel with you."

The Doctor swallowed hard, holding onto Caroline's hand like it was the only thing left in the universe. "I need to bring her home. I've been selfish enough." It pained him to not look at Caroline then, knowing she was staring up at him in shock, very clearly hurt, but he wasn't technically lying.

He should bring her home. He had been selfish enough.

The question was if he would actually be able to go through with it.

"Lady Christina de Souza." A detective walked up to them, looking quite satisfied. "Oh, I have waited a long time to say this. I am arresting you on suspicion of theft. You do not have to say anything, et cetera, et cetera. Dennison, take her away." He, and an officer, took Christina away.

"Doctor?" Carmen said, her and Lou walking past, escorted by UNIT officers. "You take care now."

He nodded. "You too. Chops and gravy, lovely."

"No, but you be careful. Because your song is ending, sir."

The Doctor's face fell. "What do you mean?"

"It is returning. It is returning through the dark, through the fire. And then, Doctor?" she paused. "Oh, but then he will knock four times." She and Lou walked away, the Doctor watching her leave, before he looked back towards Christina.

He may hate the woman because she kissed him, but he couldn't deny that she had been helpful in the alien world. He couldn't, with a good conscious, condemn her to a life of imprisonment. Just as she was put into the car, he quietly soniced her handcuffs, letting her get in one side and right out the other.

"Oi!"

"Stop that woman!" the detective shouted, running after her as Christina ran towards the bus. "Stop that woman! Stop her! Don't just stand there, stop her!" she reached the bus and shut the door. "Open the door! I'll add resisting arrest."

The Doctor stepped forward. "I'd step back, if I were you."

The detective turned to them with a glare. "I'm charging you too, both of you. Aiding and abetting."

"Yes." The Doctor backed up again. "We'll just step inside this police box and arrest ourselves."

As Christina took off in the bus, flying off into the skies of London, the Doctor and Caroline stepped back into the TARDIS.

Almost immediately, she let go of his hand, and they walked separately up to the console. He had to take a breath before putting his hands in his pockets and turning to face her. "Were you telling the truth?" Caroline asked him. "Are you actually going to bring me home?"

He really didn't want to. He never wanted Caroline to leave, even though he knew she would, she had to, there was no way for her to stay forever. That didn't stop him from wishing, from hoping, that she'd always be able to travel with him.

"I should…I really should. I shouldn't keep putting you in danger like this. I need to stop because one day you're going to get hurt and it's going to be my fault."

Caroline stepped forward. "I know it's dangerous, Doctor, I've known that since the beginning. It's impossible to travel with you and not expect danger. I know what could happen to me, believe me, I'm well aware."

"You're going to get hurt…"

"You're not forcing me to stay. If I get hurt it will be my fault Doctor, and only my fault. It doesn't matter what you did or didn't do. I'm the one who's decided to stay." She touched his arm, pulling his hand out of his pocket to hold. "If you honestly want me to leave, I will walk out that door right now."

The Doctor shook his head. "Please…" he stepped closer to her. "I don't want you too."

She smiled. "That's good, because I don't want to leave either." He looked at her for a moment, studying her expression, debating with himself if he should actually do what he deeply desired. "Was Christina a good kisser?"

"Not nearly as good as you." He grinned. "May I kiss you, Caroline Attwater?"

"Yes."

They kissed, and the stars of the universe shined a bit brighter.

 **A/N: They've kissed! Horray! Honestly, I was going to put their first proper kiss in the Next Doctor episode originally, but decided it was better suited to right here.**

 **Apologies for a missing chapter last week; exams were quite stressful, but they're over now so I can focus on fanfiction/homemade gingerbread houses.**

 **Notes on reviews:**

 _Hainako: That's a good feeling ;)_

 _Ingridie: Very soon...in about 5 more chapters._

 _time-twilight: Sadly, it won't be as simple as that._

 _Guest: Soon, I promise._

 _TheProtectorOfHim: :)_

 _Annienygma: Didn't drop the watch, unfortunately..._


	5. Hello

**Hello**

The Doctor and Caroline had not kissed again, and she wasn't going to pretend it wasn't because she was avoiding him. Not obviously, of course not obviously, if it was obvious she would never have been able to manage it. The Doctor would have picked up on it and then she would have had a problem attempting to explain it.

Because she didn't want to have to tell the Doctor the reason she didn't want to get too close to him.

It was Rose.

She knew that Rose was gone in another universe with a clone of the Doctor for herself. She knew that Rose was a jealous teenager who believed that because she was the Doctor's first companion after the war that meant she was the only one who he was allowed to love. That she was the only person in the universe who had any right to the Doctor's hearts.

And she knew that the Doctor didn't think that. She knew that the Doctor had loved Rose, he had, but he was allowed to move on and love again, that it was healthy for him to.

But that didn't stop Caroline from worrying.

Because the question remained, a question that every single person she and the Doctor had ever met would wonder; why was a genius time traveling alien letting a quiet little human tag along on his adventures?

Sometimes in adventures, she'd prove them wrong because of a comment or an idea. But other times she never did. Other times, the Doctor and Caroline would leave the people of the world wondering what the point of her tagging along was. Most of the time no one expressed their questions, but Caroline knew they were asking.

She knew it made no sense.

She was a quiet girl who couldn't stand crowds or interacting with people or speaking when there were more than two people in a room.

Part of her did wonder if the reason he let her stay was the same reason most of her other friends had tolerated her presence; they liked to talk, and she liked to listen. They wouldn't have to worry about her interrupting them as they went off on some rant because she would just sit quietly and listen. Loud people liked to be around quiet people, she knew that.

But the only problem with that was that the Doctor had kissed her. The Doctor took her hand and liked to hold it. The Doctor liked to sit in silence with her when she needed it, and he liked to listen when she spoke. He liked to teach her about the Universe and he loved it when she was able to solve a problem on her own.

He wasn't what she expected.

And part of her still wanted to push him away.

Because she wasn't good enough for him. She knew that; she'd admitted that long ago. She was nowhere near good enough for a man as wonderful as the Doctor.

The Doctor didn't see that. But it was the truth.

It was a truth so strong that everyone else in the Universe had seen it.

So she'd tried to avoid the Doctor. She wanted to kiss him with every bone in her body, but she didn't, because she knew it wasn't right.

And she knew she should leave because then he'd be able to find someone else, someone better than her, to love.

But Caroline and the Doctor were more similar than either would have desired because she was too selfish to do that.

It did appear that the Doctor was fine with just holding her hand, linking her arm with his whenever they walked places at a slow pace. But she was almost certain he desired more than that, even though he knew he shouldn't.

It hadn't been that long since San Helios, thankfully, so they hadn't really had a chance to implement any possible change in their relationship. For at least a little longer they could continue like normal.

Now, they walked out of the TARDIS in spacesuits, since this time they hadn't actually landed on a planet with a breathable atmosphere; that time, they'd decided to go to Mars. Both of them had begun practically bouncing from excitement the first time the Doctor suggested it, and that had just further confirmed that that was their next destination.

Caroline turned in a little circle on the surface of Mars, making the Doctor laugh at her. She wasn't going to pretend she wasn't interested in visiting the planet that was actually in her solar system. "Do you like it?" the Doctor asked her.

"It's wonderful." Caroline stopped turning, stepping forward and taking the Doctor's outstretched hand. "The red planet."

"Shall we go for a walk?"

"What a wonderful idea."

Together, they walked across the surface of Mars until they reached the rim of a crater, letting them see a base in the distance. It was made of a series of domes linked with tunnels. "Oh, beautiful." He frowned when something poked him in the back.

"Rotate slowly." They did so to see a small robot, almost reminding Caroline of a normal Mars rover. "You are under arrest for trespassing. Gadget! Gadget!"

|C-S|

A blonde woman pointed her gun at the Doctor and Caroline, the few lights on it glowing blue. "State your name, rank, and intention."

"The Doctor. Doctor. Fun."

"Caroline Attwater. Companion? Fun, again."

The door burst open and a man ran into the room, breathless. He froze when he saw his captain pointing a gun at two strangers. "What the hell? It's a man! And a woman! A man and woman on Mars! How?"

"They were wearing these things," a woman to the side, her hair in a ponytail, held up their suits. "I have never seen anything like it."

"What did Mission Control say?"

"They're out of range for ten hours with the solar flares."

"If we could cut the chat, everyone," the captain interrupted.

The Doctor shrugged. "Actually, chat's second on my list. The first being gun pointed at our heads." He frowned. "Which then puts our heads second and chat third, I think. Gun, heads, chat, yeah." He shook his head. "I hate lists. But you could hurt someone with that thing! Just put it down."

The captain nodded, sneering. "Oh, you'd like that."

"Can you find me someone who wouldn't?"

"Why should I trust you?"

"Because we give you our word. And forty million miles away from home, my word is all you've got."

It took the captain another moment of staring them down before lowering the weapon. "Keep Gadget covering them."

"Gadget! Gadget!"

They glanced over their shoulders to the young man sitting next to Gadget, who the captain had been speaking to. He had silver gloves on and a keyboard in front of him. "Oh right, so you control that thing. Auto-glove response."

The man nodded, grinning. "You got it. To the right…" he moved his right hand and Gadget turned.

"Gadget! Gadget!"

"And to the left…" Gadget sparked.

The Doctor grimaced. "It's a bit flimsy."

"Gadget! Gadget!"

"Does it have to keep saying that?"

The man shrugged. "I think it's funny."

"I hate funny robots."

"Excuse me, boss," a woman's voice came over the loudspeaker. "Computer log says we've got extra people on site. How's that possible?"

"Keep the Biodome closed." The captain glanced at the two of them. "And when using open comms., you call me Captain."

"Yeah, but who is it?" There was a static sound as the captain very clearly disconnected the woman.

An older man stepped up. "They can't be a World State flight because we'd know about it. Therefore, they've got to be one of the independents, yeah?" The time travelers just crossed their arms. "Was it the Branson inheritance lot? They've talked about a Mars shot for yours."

The Doctor sighed. "Right, yes, okay, you got us. So, I'm the Doctor, this is Caroline, she's lovely."

"Who are you?" Caroline asked, rather wanting to take the Doctor's hand but not actually wanting to do it with so many people around them.

The captain scoffed. "Oh, come on. We're the first off-world colonists in history. Everyone on planet Earth knows who we are."

The Doctor's eyes widened. "You're the first? The very first humans on Mars?" he turned in a small circle, looking around. "Then this is…"

"Bowie Base One?" he and the captain spoke at once.

"Number one," the Doctor didn't sound like he believed it, and Caroline was terrified about what could possibly go down in this base that made the Doctor sound progressively more horrified, though she only noticed because she'd spent so long around him. "Founded July 1st, 2058. Established Bowie Base One in the Gusey Crater. You've been at it how long?" he turned to the captain.

"Seventeen months."

"2059. It's 2059, right now. Oh! You're Captain Adelaide Brooke!" he turned to the woman and Caroline felt something smart on her leg. "And Ed." The older man. "You're Deputy Edward Gold. Tarak Ital, M.D." The man who'd run into the room. "Nurse Yuri Kerenski." The black haired man. "Senior Technician Steffi Ehrlich." The ponytailed woman. "Junior Technician Roman Groom." The one controlling Gadget. "Geologist Mia Bennett." A younger woman. "You're only twenty-seven years old."

The captain, Adelaide, nodded. "As I said, Doctor, everyone knows our names."

He nodded. "Oh, they'll never forget them." Caroline was watching him with a frown, wishing they were alone so that he could just tell her what was so important about all of these people, because she could tell it was bad, most likely deadly. "What's the date, today? What is it? Tell me the exact date."

Adelaide looked surprised, but she obliged. "November 21st, 2059."

He nodded. "Right. Okay, fine."

Steffi frowned. "Is there something wrong?"

"What's so important about my age?"

The Doctor backed away slowly, frowning, and took Caroline's hand. "We should go. We really should go." He shook his head. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry with all of my hearts, but it's one of those very rare times when I've got no choice." This was a fixed event. Whatever happened here, however bad, it was completely fixed. Like Pompeii. "It's been an honor. Seriously, a very great honor to meet you all. The Martian pioneers." He stepped away from Caroline to shake all of their hands, save for Roman, and he just tapped Gadget on the head. "Oh, thank you."

"Gadget! Gadget!"

Finally, he turned and saluted Adelaide. "Thank you!" Then he took Caroline's hand and moved back to the doorway before pausing. "Hold on. Margaret Cain and Andrew Stone."

"Maggie, if you want to meet the only new human beings that you're going to see in the next five years, better come take a look," Ed called into the comms., still obviously confused about the Doctor's actions. But the only response he got was an inhuman roar.

Everyone looked up. "What was that?" Mia asked.

"Oh, we really should go," the Doctor mumbled, but he didn't move, and Caroline made no effort to pull him. This was a fixed event and she was nervous, but she couldn't help but also be curious, but also want to save a few of these people because it was almost obvious that they were all fated for death.

"This is Central," Ed called again. "Biodome report immediately."

Adelaide moved to the computer. "Show me the Biodome."

Ed began to work the controls, but he could only pull up static. "Internal cameras are down."

"Show me the exterior."

The lights of the Biodome began to go out one by one.

Adelaide stood. "I'm going over. Doctor, Caroline, with me."

"Yeah, I'm sorry. Er…I'd love to help, but we're leaving right now." He tried to grab the suits from Steffi, but Adelaide shook her head.

"Take their spacesuits, lock them up." She turned to them. "This started as soon as you two arrived, so you're not going anywhere except with me."

Before the Doctor could say anything else, Adelaide was gesturing them out of the room and handing them torches. Caroline kept looking at the Doctor as they walked, wishing they were alone, because she really preferred to know what was going on right now, especially since the Doctor had been so certain to attempt to leave. "What's so important about Mia's age? You said she's only twenty-seven. Why does it matter? What did you mean?"

The Doctor shrugged, but he gripped Caroline's hand even tighter, holding her close to him like he didn't want her to get too far away. "Oh, I just open my mouth and words come out. They don't make much sense."

"Telling me," Tarak said with a slight laugh."

He paused. "Thank you, doctor."

The man smirked. "Anytime, Doctor."

"Gadget! Gadget!"

The Doctor glanced back at the small robot following them. "I hate robots. Did I say?"

"Yeah," Roman said through the speakers, "and he's not too fond of you. What's wrong with robots?"

He grimaced. "It's not the robots, it's the people. Dressing them up and giving them silly voices. Like you're reducing them."

"Yeah. Friend of mine, she made her domestic robot look like a dog."

The Doctor grinned and Caroline remembered K9, who'd helped them against the Daleks and the Doctor had later explained been a friend of his in an earlier regeneration. "Ah well, dogs. That's different."

"But I adapted Gadget out of the worker drones," Roman continued. "Those things are huge. They built this place when the shell was lowered down from orbit. They've got a strength capacity of fifteen tons."

"The channel is open for essential communications only," Adelaide cut n.

"Sorry…love those drones."

The Doctor glanced at Adelaide. "I've read all that stuff about you, Captain Adelaide. But one thing they never said. Was it worth it, the mission?"

Adelaide looked at him, frowning. "We've got excellent results from the soil analysis."

"No, but all of it. Because they say you sacrificed everything. Devoted your whole life to get here."

It took Adelaide a moment to speak. "It's been chaos back home. Forty long years. The climate, the ozone, the oil apocalypse. We almost reached extinction. Then to fly above that, to stand on a world with no smoke, where the only straight line is the sunlight? Yes, it's worth it."

He grinned. "Ah. That's the Adelaide Brooke I always wanted to meet. The woman with starlight in her soul."

Caroline touched her pocket without thinking, without realizing.

Adelaide smiled slightly until they saw something lying on the ground a few feet away. "What's that?" they ran to it. "It's Maggie!"

"Don't touch her!" the Doctor warned.

"I know the procedure," Tarak snapped, pulling on rubber gloves. "Maggie, can you hear me? It's Tarak. Maggie?" Carefully, he rolled her over. "It's okay, she's still breathing. She's alive. Yuri, I've got Margaret Cain, head trauma. I need a full medpack."

"I've got it," Yuri replied. "Medpack on its way!"

A few moments later Yuri and Ed ran down the hallway, pulling along a stretcher. "Don't touch her," the Doctor said, pulling Caroline back. "Use the gloves."

Tarak nodded. "Do as he says. Get her to Sickbay. Put her in isolation."

"We're going on to the Biodome." Adelaide stood. "Tarak, with me. Yuri can take care of her. Ed, go back. Gadget, stand guard. Keep an eye on this area."

"Gadget! Gadget!"

"Captain, you're going to need me," Ed stepped forward. "Andy is the only other crew member out here, and if that wasn't an accident, then he's gone wild."

"You've deserted your post," Adelaide said sternly. "Consider that an official warning. Now get back to work." She turned and continued down the corridor. "Doctor, Caroline!"

The Doctor took Caroline's hand before continuing. She knew he couldn't tell her what had to happen, not until they were actually and properly alone, but she could already guess what it could be.

She knew that all of these people died, most likely that day given the Doctor's reaction to the date, and it was a fixed event. And she knew it had something to do with whatever this threat was.

Given the Doctor's reaction and the fact he didn't really fight Adelaide's authority when she ordered them to stay, Caroline was already guessing that she'd have to remind him this was a fixed event. Whatever happened here, however horrible, however much she wanted to stop it, was still fixed. It still had to happen.

She didn't know if all of their deaths were the fixed event, or maybe just one of them. But she knew that someone had to die, today.

And she hated it, but she would have to remind the Doctor about it eventually. She knew she would because he'd forget and try to change the universe and she couldn't let him do that to himself.

"Captain," Steffi said over the comm., "that sound we heard from the Biodome. I've run it through diagnostics. According to the computer, it's…it's Andy. It registers as the voice print of Andy Stone."

Adelaide nodded. "Understood. Double check, thanks."

"Air pressure stabilized," Tarak called, typing into a keypad.

The door to the Biodome opened and Adelaide led the way in, Tarak taking up the end. The crew members flashed around their torches, looking for signs of anyone, while the Doctor and Caroline moved to the computer. It was very clear that the Doctor was not planning on letting Caroline out of his sight on this mission, not with whatever danger lay ahead of them.

"Andrew?" Adelaide called. "Andrew Stone? It's Captain Brooke." Nothing. "Andy, report. I need to see you. Where are you?"

The Doctor quickly soniced the computer, hoping that Adelaide didn't actually see what he was using. "There you go."

The captain turned to him. "What's that device?"

He held it up. "Screwdriver."

"Are you the Doctor or the Janitor?"

He shrugged, grinning. "I don't know. Sounds like me. The maintenance man of the universe."

Adelaide turned away. "You two stay with me. Don't step out of my sight. Tarak," she looked to him, "go to External Door South." Caroline briefly wondered if her apparent uselessness had anything to do with Adelaide not bothering to split her and the Doctor up.

"Yes, ma'am." Tarak walked off and Adelaide brought the pair through rows of the planets.

The Doctor studied one of them. "Quite an achievement. First flower on Mars in ten thousand years. And you're growing veg!"

"It's that lot. They're already planning Christmas dinner. Last year it was dehydrated protein. This year they want the real thing."

He shrugged. "Still, fair enough. Christmas."

Adelaide couldn't help but smile. "If we must."

Caroline glanced up at the sky, hearing something. "You have birds."

Adelaide nodded. "It's part of the project, to keep the insect population down."

He nodded. "Good sign."

"In what way?"

"Well, they're still alive."

"Captain, good news," Yuri said over the comms.. "It's Maggie. She's awake. She's back with us." A slight rustle before she spoke again. "Hey. How are you, soldier? Just take it easy. Can you remember what happened?"

"I was just…working." Maggie sounded uneasy. "Then I woke up here."

"What about Andy? We can't find hm. Was he all right?"

"I don't know. I just…"

"If you remember anything, let me know straight away."

"Yuri," Ed asked, "does she know how she ended up in the tunnel?"

"And keep the comms. clear," Adelaide finished. "Everything goes through me, got that?" The woman was tense as they continued to walk through the Biodome.

"This is Sickbay," Yuri said suddenly, sounding panicked. "We have a situation. Maggie's condition has…I don't know. I don't know what it is! It's…it's water, just…pouring out!"

Adelaide paused. "Yuri, calm down. Just tell me what's happened to her."

"The skin is sort of…broken around the mouth. And she's exuding water, like she's drowning!"

"Tarak, this area's unsafe. We're going back." No response. "Tarak? Tarak!"

"Where is he?" the Doctor asked, but Adelaide just took off running through the Biodome, the time travelers wasting no time in following her. She stopped suddenly when they saw Andy and Tarak at the end of the row, Andy pressing his hand against Tarak's head, somehow pouring water over him. "Andy?" the Doctor said carefully, "just leave him alone."

Adelaide pulled out her weapon. "Step away from him."

"We can help, I promise. I can help. Just leave that man alone."

Andy wasn't listening to either of them.

"I order you to stop. Stop, or I'll shoot."

"Andy, I'm asking you to take your hand away from him and listen to me." Andy released Tarak, the man crumbling to the ground. "There now, that's better, hmm? So you must be Andy. Hello." But when the man turned to face him, Caroline felt sick. His mouth was cracked and somehow dripping water, and his eyes were almost a pure white. As they watched, Tarak turned to face them as well, and he looked exactly the same. "We've got to go."

Instantly, the trio turned and ran, with Andy and Tarak chasing them. Thankfully, they reached the airlock first, racing through it. "Set the seals on maximum!" the Doctor shouted, turning to shut the door. He just managed to get it closed before Andy fired a stream of water at it.

"Captain, we need you back here," Steffi said.

"Just tell me that Maggie is contained. Can you confirm, Ed?"

"Confirmed," Ed said. "She's locked in."

"Keep surveillance till I get back. And close down all water supplies. All pipes and outlets. Don't consume anything. Have you got that, everyone? That's an order. Don't drink the water. Don't even touch it. Not one drop."

The Doctor, however, was frowning at Andy, who was currently attempting to find his way through the airlock. "Can you talk?"

Caroline shrugged. "Humans are sixty percent water."

He nodded. "Makes them the perfect host."

"What for?"

The Doctor swallowed hard. "I don't know. I never will. Because we've got to go. Whatever's started here, I can't see it to the end. I can't." Behind them, Andy and Tarak began gushing water at the airlock seals. "This thing's airtight, yeah?"

Adelaide nodded. "And therefore watertight."

"It depends how clever the water is."

The lock sparked with a bang. "They're fusing the system!"

"Abandon ship!" the Doctor pushed the woman through the second door, taking Caroline's hand as they ran. They could hear Andy and Tarak chasing after them. The Doctor stopped when they reached where Gadget had been stationed, pulling out his sonic.

"Doctor, we haven't got time!"

"They can run faster than us. We need a lift." He soniced the robot.

"Gadget! Gadget!"

"Get on!" the Doctor shouted, climbing onto the robot with Caroline behind him.

"That thing goes at two miles an hour!"

"Not anymore. Trust me."

Adelaide looked back for a moment, knowing she couldn't outrun the infected men on her own, and climbed onto Gadget's back.

"Gadget! Gadget!"

The Doctor nodded, sonicing it again. "Gadget! Gadget!"

Actual flames poured out of the exhaust once the Doctor got it started and the humans had to hold on tight to keep from being thrown off. They were much quicker that way, reaching the end of the tunnel far quicker than the two men, though Gadget didn't appear to have survived the trip without damage.

"The Central Dome airlocks have got Hardigner seals," Adelaide said, running off Gadget and unlocking the door. "There's no way they can get in."

The Doctor held the door open for Gadget. "Come on, come on!"

"Gadget! Gadget!" The robot was moving slowly now.

"Come on! Come on!"

"I thought you hated robots!"

"I do!"

Thankfully, Gadget reached the room before the two men and they closed the door, breathing hard. "We're safe," Adelaide said. "It's hermetically sealed. They can't get in."

The Doctor shook his head. "Water is patient, Adelaide. Water just waits. It wears down clifftops, the mountains, the whole of the world. Water always wins." He grabbed Caroline's hand and they ran from the room. "Come on!"

"Biodome tunnel is out of bounds," Adelaide said into the comm. as they ran. "Andy and Tarak are infected. Repeat, infected. Make no contact. And if they make the slightest move, tell me. I'm going to the Medical Dome."

The tunnel to the Medical Dome was just as long as the one to the Biodome. "Blimey, it's a distance. You could do with bikes in this place."

"Every pound in weight equals three tons of fuel."

"Yeah, I know. But bikes!"

They ran into the Medical Dome, Yuri and Ed watching Maggie behind the glass. She looked almost the same as the two men, except her eyes weren't white yet. "Has that door got a Hardinger seal?" Adelaide nodded towards the door of the isolation room.

"No, just basic."

"Then the moment she heads for the door, we evacuate. Got that?"

Ed nodded, moving to the computer. "Pulse is low. Electrical activity in the brain seems to be going haywire."

"Can she talk?"

"Don't know," Yuri shrugged. "She was talking before we noticed the change, but…"

Adelaide walked to the glass. "Maggie, can you hear me? Do you know who I am?" Maggie didn't answer, only turned to look at the Doctor. "Your commanding officer, Captain Adelaide Brooke. Can you tell me what happened?"

The Doctor began to speak in a language no one in the room recognized, but Maggie appeared to, her eyes widening as she listened.

"What language is that?" Ed asked once he'd finished.

"Ancient North Martian."

"Don't be ridiculous," Adelaide scoffed.

"It's like she recognized it."

"Her eyes are different," Caroline said.

Ed shook his head. "Not different enough for me."

"Where do you get your water from?"

"The ice field. That's why we chose the crater. We're on top of an underground glacier."

The Doctor nodded. "Tons of water. Marvelous."

"But every single drop is filtered. It's screened. It's safe."

He nodded again. "Looks like it, yeah."

"If something as frozen down there…a viral life form held in the ice for all those years."

"Look at her mouth. All blackened, like there's some sort of fission. This thing, whatever it is, doesn't just hide in water, it creates water." He stepped closer. "Tell me what you want."

"She was looking at the screen," Yuri said when Maggie didn't answer. "At Earth. She wanted Earth. A world full of water."

"Captain," Ed said suddenly, "with me." The two of them stepped to the other side of the room, the Doctor and Caroline just moving to the computer to keep listening in. Caroline may not have understood exactly what was happening, but that didn't stop her from wanting to figure it out. "I'm sorry, but it's an unknown infection and it's spreading. That demands Action Procedure One."

"Do you think I don't know that?"

"I think you need reminding."

Adelaide nodded, rubbing her forehead. "Yeah."

Ed chuckled. "Well, at least I'm good for something."

Adelaide nodded. "Now and again."

"That's almost a compliment. Things must be serious."

"Sorry," the Doctor said, drawing their attention, "sorry, but, Action One, that means evacuation, yeah?"

"We're going home." She picked up the comm.. "This is Captain Brooke. I'm declaring Action One. Repeat to all crewmembers, this is Action One with immediate effect. Evacuate the base." She paused. "Steffi, what's your estimate on shuttle viability?"

"It's a nine month flight. It'll take us at least three hours to load up everything we need."

"You've got twenty minutes. And give me a report on Andy and Tarak."

"Still in the Biodome tunnel. They're just standing there, like they're waiting."

"Keep an eye on them. And make that twenty minutes fifteen." She turned to Ed. "Ed, line up the shuttle. Go straight to ignition status."

"Doing it now!" Ed ran from the room.

"But what about Maggie?" Yuri asked, glancing back at the woman.

"She stays behind. We've got no way to contain her on board. Close this place down. I want the power directed to the shuttle."

The Doctor frowned. "Of course, the only problem is…"

"Thank you, Doctor, Caroline. Your spacesuits will be returned and good luck to you."

"The problem is…this thing is clever."

Caroline nodded. If there was anything the Doctor or anyone they encountered could say about her, it was that she thought logically. "It didn't infect the birds or insects in the Biodome, it picked the humans. And then…Tarak changed right away, but it stayed hidden in Maggie."

"No doubt so it could infiltrate the Central Dome," the Doctor continued. "Which means…"

Adelaide's eyes widened. "Any one of us could already be infected. We've all been drinking the same water."

The Doctor nodded. "And if you take that back to Earth, one drop. Just one drop."

"But we're only presuming infection. If we can find out how this thing got through, when it got through." She turned to Yuri. "Yuri, continue with Action One. I'm going to inspect the ice field." Yuri nodded and Adelaide left the room.

"Right." The Doctor nodded again, running a hand through his hair. "We should leave." Caroline knew they should, she knew they really, really had to. This was a fixed event and, technically, there was nothing he could do to stop it. "Finally, we should leave. No point in seeing the ice field." The Doctor was looking at the door Adelaide had run through, moving onto the balls of his feet. "No point at all. No…" he glanced at Caroline, and the human sighed at him, knowing it wasn't time to stop him yet. Knowing he was still hoping that he'd be able to help stop what was going to happen. "Adelaide!"

They ran down the tunnel, the Doctor not actually taking her hand that time, until they reached Adelaide. "All I'm saying is, bikes!" the Doctor said, making Adelaide look at him. "Little foldaway bikes. Don't weigh a thing."

 **A/N: The duo have come to Mars. What will happen with the Time Lord Victorious?**

 **Notes on reviews:**

 _time-twilight: Very soon, don't worry :)_

 _grapejuice101: No Sarah Jane Adventures, sorry_

 _Annienygma: I'm glad you liked it and Caroline :)_

 _MageVicky: She won't be the one playing with it in front of the Doctor..._

 _Guest: I won't say anything specific yet, but I will say that Caroline won't fully be out of their minds once the fob watch is opened_

 _Guest: Don't worry, not abandoned; I have quite about ninety future chapters of this series written, so this isn't ending anytime soon :)_


	6. Goodbye

**Goodbye**

They entered a large open area, a large hole in the base of it with a large sheet of ice. The Doctor paused, looking down at it. "They tell legends of Mars from long ago, of a fine and noble race who built an empire out of snow. The Ice Warriors."

Adelaide shook her head, moving towards a computer. "I haven't got time for stories."

"Perhaps they found something down there. Used their might and their wisdom to freeze it."

"Doctor, we need to find any sort of change in the water process." The Doctor and Caroline moved to the computer next to Adelaide's. "We've got to date the infection."

He was able to work for a few seconds before, "Access denied." The Doctor grimaced, but continued trying.

"You don't look like a coward," Adelaide said, looking more at the Doctor then Caroline, he was the one who knew everything, after all, "but all you've wanted to do is leave. You know so much about us."

The Doctor shrugged. "Well, you're famous."

"It's like you know more."

He glanced at Caroline, knowing he wasn't about to tell Adelaide what happened on the base but wishing he could just have a chance to actually tell his companion what was going on. Thankfully, she knew enough not to ask when any of the crewmembers were around, but he knew she wanted to know. He knew she was seeing it like Pompeii, only there she had known the outcome. Here she could only guess, though he was almost certain the guess was correct.

"This moment," he began, "this precise moment in time, it's like…I mean, it's only a theory, what do I know, but I think certain moments in time are fixed. Tiny, precious moments. Anything else is in flux, anything can happen, but those certain moments, they have to stand. This base on Mars with you, Adelaide Brooke, this is one vital moment. What happens here must always happen."

Adelaide tensed, raising an eyebrow. "Which is what?"

He swallowed. "I don't know." He paused, thinking of Adelaide's story, the thing that would be told across the universe. "I think something wonderful happens. Something that started fifty years ago, isn't that right?"

Adelaide turned to him in shock. "I've never told anyone that."

"You told your daughter. And maybe one day she tells the story to her daughter. The day the Earth was stolen and moved across the universe. And you…"

Adelaide nodded. "I saw the Daleks. We looked up…the sky had changed. Everyone was running and screaming. And my father took hold of me…I never saw him again. Nor my mother. They were never found. But out on the streets, there was panic and burning. I went to the window, and there, in the sky, I saw it, Doctor. And it saw me. It stared at me. it looked right into me. And then it simply went away. I knew, that night, I knew I would follow it."

"But not for revenge."

"What would be the point of that?"

The Doctor couldn't help but smile. "That's what makes you remarkable. And that's how you create history."

"What do you mean?"

"Imagine it, Adelaide, if you began a journey that takes the human race all the way out to the stars. It begins with you, and then your granddaughter, you inspire her, so that in thirty years Susie Fontana Brooke is the pilot of the first lightspeed ship to Proxima Centauri. And then everywhere, with her children, and her children's children forging the way. To the Dragon Star, the Celestial Belt of the Winter Queen, the Map of the Watersnake Wormholes. One day a Brooke will even fall in love with a Tandonian prince, that's the start of a whole new species. But everything starts with you, Adelaide. From fifty years ago to right here, today. Imagine."

Caroline blinked at that, but no one noticed.

Adelaide shook her head. "Who are you? Why are you telling me this? Doctor, why tell me?"

"As consolation." The two stared at each other for a moment before the computer made a sound, Adelaide breaking through.

She turned to it. "Andy Stone. He logged on yesterday." She pulled up the log.

"Maintenance log, 21:20, November 2059. Number three water filter's bust. And guess what? The spares they sent don't fit. What a surprise. Over and out."

The Doctor's eyes widened. "A filter! One tiny little filter and then the flood."

"But that means the infection arrived today, and the water's only cycled out of the Biodome after a week. The rest of us can't be infected. We can leave." She stepped back from the computer. "Ed, we're clean. How are we doing?"

"Shuttle's active, stage one."

Adelaide turned and ran back to the central, this time the Doctor taking Caroline's hand as they followed. She hoped desperately that they were leaving, right now, because there was a pit growing in her stomach. "You were right, Doctor," Adelaide said as they ran.

"What about?"

"Bikes!" she grinned just as they reached the control room. Adelaide found their suits and handed them to them. "Now get to your ship. I'm saving my people, you save yourselves. I know what this moment is. It's the moment we escape. Now get out!"

The Doctor watched her run off, holding onto the suits with one hand, the other grabbing Caroline's hand. And she knew, in that moment, more certain than she had in the rest of the time they'd been there, that every single person on this base was going to die. Most of them could live, she had a feeling about that, most of them would be able to survive for time to continue as it needed to.

But given the Doctor's speech, given his pain, Adelaide couldn't. Adelaide had to die here, sacrifice herself, and inspire her family to venture to the stars.

She pulled on his arm, forcing him to stumble backward, looking at her in shock. "There is nothing you can do," she reminded him sternly. "This is a fixed event. Whatever happens here has to happen, no questions asked." The Doctor didn't move. "Please, Doctor." She was speaking quiet enough that none of the crewmembers could hear her, especially as they realized the two infected men were outside the dome.

"I can't…"

"Doctor. Please."

He took one final look at everyone around them before finally letting Caroline take him backward and towards the airlock. They helped each other into their suits again, the Doctor quiet, and Caroline knowing more than anyone that she shouldn't speak at that moment. Her only task now was to keep him from changing anything because she knew he wanted to.

And she knew he shouldn't. Somehow, she knew that the Doctor couldn't change a single thing.

He pressed the button to open the other door, but nothing happened. "Access denied." He tried again. "Access denied."

"Tell me what happens," Adelaide said, accessing the comms in their suits.

"I don't know."

"Yes, you do. Now tell me."

"You should be with the others."

"Tell me!" the Doctor said nothing. "I could ramp up the pressure in that airlock and crush you."

He looked at the screen before him, knowing that Adelaide could see him there. "Except you won't. You could have shot Andy Stone, but you didn't. I loved you for that." He was quiet, looking over to Caroline, the human holding his hand tightly. "Imagine…imagine you knew something. Imagine you found yourself somewhere. I don't know, Pompeii. Imagine you were in Pompeii."

"What the hell's that got to do with it?"

"And you tried to save them. But in doing so, you make it happen. Anything I do just makes it happen." The Doctor ended in a mumble and Caroline stepped closer.

"Captain, we need you right now!" Steffi said suddenly.

There was a pause before Adelaide spoke again. "I'm still here."

"You're taking Action One." Now the Doctor refused to look at Caroline. "There are four more standard action procedures. And Action Five is?"

"Detonation."

He nodded. "The final option." A hard swallow and a pause, and Caroline knew that he was about to tell Adelaide what happened, what had to happen, and by doing so would be taking all the blame upon himself. "The nuclear device at the heart of the Central Dome. Today, on the 21st of November, 2059, Captain Brooke activates that device, taking the base and all her crew members with her. No one ever knows why. But you were saving Earth. That's what inspires your granddaughter. She takes your people out into the galaxy because you die on Mars. You die today. She flies out there like she's trying to meet you."

"I won't die." Adelaide's voice was shaking. "I will not!"

"But your death creates the future."

There was a pause, a long silence, where Caroline wasn't noticing the growing heat of the object in her pocket, the temperature being funneled around by her suit. "Help me. Why won't you help, Doctor? If you know all of this, why can't you change it?"

He shook his head. "I can't."

"Why can't you find a way? You could tell me, I don't know…"

"I'm sorry, but I can't!" the Doctor shouted, pressing his forehead against the controls. "Sometimes I can, sometimes I do. Most times I can save someone, or anyone. But not you. You wondered all your life why that Dalek spared you. I think it knew. Your death is fixed in time forever. And that's right."

Adelaide swallowed. "You'll die here too."

"No."

"What's going to save you?"

"Captain Adelaide Brooke."

There was silence and they heard the airlock unseal with a whisper of, "damn you."

The Doctor and Caroline stepped out onto the Mars landscape, back towards the TARDIS, but they could still hear everything that was going on in the base. Caroline wanted to save them, she did, she didn't want anyone to die, but she knew they needed to. She knew they had to. For the timeline to be maintained, they had to die. Right here, right now.

She knew the Doctor knew that too. It was why he was still walking.

"Water!" Roman shouted, frantic. "We've got water!"

"Captain!" Mia. "Get back! Get back! Captain! Don't touch it, Roman! Get back! Get back!"

"Everyone, we're abandoning this section. Get to the shuttle. Yuri, lead the way. Section B corridor, now." Something opened, and they could hear the sound of water. "Close it!"

"Yuri, did that water touch you?"

"I'm safe…"

"Did it touch you? Yuri, did that water touch you?"

"I'm clean! I'm dry!"

"Everyone, Section B is out. Listen to me. Take every pack that you can. We'll go round. We'll make our way out through Section F."

"Transferring oxygenation to Section F. Mia, you take the redline stock. And hurry up!"

A crash and more water, and then everyone screaming for Steffi.

"Shut the door!" Yuri ordered. "Close the door!"

"Steffi, we'll come get you, okay? We'll come get you!"

"Steffi!"

"Captain!"

"We'll open the access panel. We'll get you out through the back. Get out of here. Move it!"

"Captain, it's inside!"

"Steffi!"

"Steffi, get back!"

"We're coming, Steffi. Hold on!"

"The access panel's fused, Captain. We can't open it."

"We can't get through!"

"I can't move!"

They could hear a young girl, a child, speaking in German.

"Steffi! Can you hear me?"

"Oh, my God!"

"Out! Get out! Ed, we're going round the long way. How are we doing?"

"All systems online one hundred percent. Not a single delay. Don't you worry, Captain, we're going to fly." They could hear the shuttle's engines.

"I need air in Section F right now, all of you!"

"Locking chamber three. Locking chamber four."

"The water is going to get through!"

"Keep moving!"

"Gate five is open. Gate six is open. Quickly, come on!"

"Roman, come on. With me!"

There was a pause before Roman responded to Adelaide. "You'd better go."

"Don't just stand there. Move."

"You'd really better go without me. I'm sorry, Captain. One drop."

"Roman! Roman!"

"Leave him, come on"!

"We can't just leave him!"

"Come on."

"Let me go!"

"We've got to go!"

"Roman!"

"I'm so sorry."

They could hear water again. "Captain." It was Ed, sounding pained. "The shuttle is down."

"What the hell do you mean?"

"Compromised. It was Maggie."

"Get out of there!"

"Too late. They want this ship to get to Earth. Got no choice. Hated it, Adelaide. This bloody job! You never gave me a chance. You never could forgive me. See you later."

The shuttle exploded and the force sent the time travelers off their feet.

"We're losing oxygen!"

"The hull is broken!"

The Doctor pushed himself up from the ground, looking back at the base with a hardened expression, one that Caroline had never seen in her entire life. One that she never wanted to see again, because it was dark and hating and dangerous.

And she knew what he was about to do.

"Doctor!" he didn't listen. "You can't!" He stood. "You can't go back! Please, Doctor!" He began to walk. "It's a fixed event!"

As she watched him walk, ignoring her, clenching his fists, Caroline began to think. Because there was no way she'd be able to stop the Doctor now. He had made a decision and he was a Time Lord and she had no right to stop him.

But she was a human with a Time Lady consciousness in her pocket, even if no one else in the Universe knew that, even if she didn't even know that yet.

She knew what fixed events meant, she knew what the timeline would do if anyone attempted to change it. She knew how the Universe would suffer.

But Adelaide knew her future. The Doctor had told her exactly what she would do in the future.

Even if he changed something, Adelaide would maintain the timelines. The Universe would force her.

Time didn't like to be forced out of its plan. And the Doctor had made it clear that her death, today, was an event so important that even a Dalek had known it when she was a child.

Adelaide would still die today.

But that didn't mean that anyone else had to.

The Doctor was already too far towards the base for Caroline to reach him. But there was still something she could do.

Because the TARDIS was an advanced piece of alien technology that could travel in time. The TARDIS would want to help her pilot.

Caroline pushed herself from the ground and ran back towards the TARDIS, not looking back.

And she could still hear the Doctor. Returning to the base, dark and dangerous and willing to change fixed events.

And remembering the Laws of Time. The things he was meant to uphold, the things his people had put into place to protect the universe. The things he was ignoring today.

Caroline reached the TARDIS and the doors opened instantly, just as she'd expected them too. The TARDIS hummed around her, recognizing her, and for once acknowledging the thing in her pocket, the thing Caroline couldn't see because she chose not to, but the thing that had been leaking into her ever since she'd been thrown into the Library.

"Okay." She touched the console. "My name is Caroline Alice Attwater, and right now I need to pilot this TARDIS to save the Doctor. How in Rassilon's name am I going to do that?" the name she said didn't register to her, but the TARDIS heard it.

The TARDIS helped her.

But Caroline didn't need much help, not really, because her fob watch had been leaking for quite a while. Not enough for her, or anyone, to recognize her or it for what it was, but enough for all of those natural reflexes to return.

Caroline Alice Attwater piloted the TARDIS back to Bowie Base One and stood in the doorway, holding out a hand amidst the destruction to the shocked Doctor. He stood there with Gadget's gloves on his hand, halfway towards doing the same thing, but somehow Caroline had done it first.

There was a golden quality to Caroline's eyes, something bright in her green eyes, but the Doctor thought it was the flames reflecting back at him. Not once did he believe it to be her hidden fob watch helping her, finally, save the last Time Lord in the universe.

He managed to pull himself back to the present long enough to practically shove everyone into the TARDIS and run to the console, piloting it on his own, not questioning how Caroline had managed it.

They reappeared on a snow covered street. The Doctor was the first one out, grinning, and the surviving members of the crew followed him. Caroline was the last.

"Isn't anyone going to thank me?" he asked, turning, taking the responsibility and Caroline didn't stop him.

"That's my house," Adelaide gasped, staring at it.

He frowned at them all. "Don't you get it? This is the 21st of November, 2059. It's the same day on Earth. And it's snowing." He spun again. "I love snow." Caroline was silent, watching him carefully.

Mia shook her head. "What is that thing? It's bigger…I mean, it's bigger on the inside?" She turned to the Doctor in terror. "Who the hell are you?"

She ran off. Yuri moved to follow before glancing at Adelaide, waiting for his captain to nod. "Look after her."

"Yes, ma'am."

Adelaide turned back to the Doctor and Caroline. "You saved us."

He nodded, shoulders high, so very proud of himself. "Just think it through. Your daughter, and your daughter's daughter, you can see them again. Family reunion."

"But I'm supposed to be dead."

"Not anymore."

"But Susie, my granddaughter. The person she's supposed to become might never exist now."

The Doctor shook head. "Nah! Captain Adelaide can inspire her face to face! Different details, but the story's the same."

"You can't know that! And if my family changes, the whole of history could change. The future of the human race. No one should have that power."

His face fell, hardening. "Tough."

Adelaide stepped backward. "You should have left us there."

"Adelaide, I've done this sort of thing before. In small ways, saved some little people, but never someone as important as you." He grinned. "Oh, I'm good."

But Adelaide was not impressed. "Little people?" she spat. "What, like Mia and Yuri? Who decides they're so unimportant? You?"

Now the Doctor glared and Caroline actually pulled her fob watch from her pocket, looking down at it, because now he wasn't looking at her and wouldn't see, but she could feel it, hear it, a voice calling to her. "For a long time now, I thought I was just a survivor, but I'm not. I'm the winner. That's who I am. The Time Lord Victorious."

Adelaide looked over at Caroline, knowing that the woman couldn't stop him, not in the form she was now, not unless she opened the watch. "And there's no one to stop you."

The Doctor didn't follow her gaze. "No."

"This is wrong, Doctor. I don't care who you are. The Time Lord Victorious is wrong!"

"That's for me to decide." He straightened. "Now, you'd better get home." He glanced back at the building. "Oh, it's all locked up. You've been away. Still, that's easy." He soniced the front door himself. "All yours."

"Is there nothing you can't do?"

"Not anymore."

Adelaide walked back towards her home and the Doctor turned to look back at Caroline, frowning at her. She was standing there, next to the TARDIS, looking intently at something in her hands, but he was too far away to see. Slowly, he stepped forward, only to pause at the sound of the weapon being fired in the home behind him.

Caroline was right. Adelaide would fix the timeline.

Carefully, she looked up, fob watch sliding back into her pocket before the Doctor could see because it wasn't the time, not yet, the Universe was stopping her. "Doctor." he turned again. There was something new in her voice, something gold in her eyes that the Doctor couldn't place.

An Ood song drifted over to him and the Doctor turned, seeing Ood Sigma standing there staring him down.

Caroline didn't stay to listen. She stepped back inside the TARDIS, walked to the console, and touched it, gingerly.

The Universe was going to sing for the Doctor, and now it was begging her.

She touched her pocket, not taking the fob watch out that time, just touching it. But it wasn't time, not yet, so her hand fell and she just leaned against the console, taking a deep breath.

She wasn't going to pretend that the Doctor hadn't scared her. Because he had. He had terrified her. The moment he turned and walked back towards the base, abandoning her on the surface of Mars, and she'd known what he was going to do, she'd been terrified. She'd known there was no way to stop him, that he had fallen further than she could reach.

"Caroline…" the Doctor said, his voice weak, shaking. "I'm sorry."

Caroline turned and saw a broken Time Lord, a man who knew he was going to his death and there was nothing he could do to stop it. He walked until he was standing in front of her, close enough for her to take his hands, to touch his cheek. "What do you need?"

The gold had faded from her eyes, but Caroline didn't know that. She hadn't even known it was there.

The Doctor didn't speak, only pulled Caroline into a hug, breathing in her strawberry smell, trying to remember what she looked and sounded like, knowing that he wouldn't see her again in this body. Knowing he couldn't. When he pulled back it was him who touched her face, looking for a second longer. "Thank you." And then he stepped back, moving to the console. "Let's go somewhere calm."

Caroline watched him with a frown. It was foolish for him to attempt to fool her now, but she let him.

"I don't know if I can do calm, but let's try, for once, shall we?" he wasn't smiling. "Somewhere random in the universe, and somewhere calm."

"Are you certain that's wise?"

"Of course that's wise, Caroline, why wouldn't it be? Best decision I've made in my entire long life, doing something calm today." He set the TARDIS into motion and almost instantly it landed again. "Why don't you go out first? Check it out for me."

The Doctor hadn't looked at her since he'd stepped away, but he was gripping the console like his life depended on it. Caroline didn't want to go to the door, but his voice was so falsely happy that she was hoping, desperately hoping, that he was just trying to distract himself.

Caroline stepped out of the TARDIS into what she instantly recognized as her own front room, exactly as she'd left it the last time the Doctor had brought her there. She turned to the TARDIS again, knowing what was happening, hoping desperately it wasn't, but the TARDIS was already dematerializing.

The Doctor was leaving her. And he hadn't said goodbye.

"Doctor!" she shouted, even if it wouldn't do anything, but hoping he'd be able to hear her. When she reached out, she could still touch something, like the TARDIS was still there. "Doctor, please." No response. "Don't leave me, Doctor, not now."

|C-S|

Inside the TARDIS, the moment the doors of the TARDIS closed, the Doctor hung his head.

It was painful to leave Caroline behind, but it was what was necessary. He had to face the upcoming events on his own, he wouldn't subject anyone else in the universe to that.

Especially not Caroline.

Especially because of what had just happened, what he had just done, what he had just become. He was falling and he couldn't take her with him any further.

He didn't send the TARDIS away immediately. He waited, for at least a few seconds, watching Caroline on the monitor, hearing her shout for him, before he couldn't look anymore.

The Doctor sent the TARDIS away with the complete intent on never seeing Caroline Alice Attwater again in this body.

|C-S|

Caroline Alice Attwater had other ideas.

She wanted, at least, the chance to give the Doctor a proper goodbye. She hadn't been able to do that for her parents or Donna, but she would do it for the Doctor. She would find the Doctor and she would say goodbye.

Even he had admitted that there was something in the universe drawing them together. It was the only way to explain how many times they'd encountered each other before she'd actually begun to travel with him. Something in the universe wanted them to meet. For a moment he'd wondered if it had just been the Daleks and the Doctor-Donna, but it was something different from that entirely, he knew that.

He just didn't know what.

And now, if he succeeded with what he was trying to do, they would never know.

Caroline was going to rely on the universe's desire to see them together again to find him. Normally, she wasn't a big believer in fate, but she couldn't deny the facts. She couldn't deny how many times she'd actually managed to run into the Doctor, a time-traveling alien who barely landed where or when he was actually intending to. It may have been coincidence, sure, but coincidences were rare, they didn't happen this often.

Something wanted the Doctor and Caroline together, and she could only hope that it wanted them together again.

And even if it didn't, Caroline was going to find him. She was going to find the man in the blue box and she was going to say goodbye to him.

Thankfully, the universe was on her side.

 **A/N: The Doctor's left Caroline, but she's not going to let that happen. I will say, this whole episode has helped me realize some very unintentional things I've done with future chapters of this story. Maybe made it get higher on my list of favorites ;)**

 **Notes on reviews:**

 _time-twilight: I won't say anything specific about what happens when the fob watch is opened, but I will reiterate that Caroline, and the type of person she is, will not be forgotten_

 _MageVicky: No different choice, but someone/something else piloting the TARDIS back for him._

 _Guest: Perhaps ;)...and good guess, at least partially_

 _Mireborn: Thanks for noticing my typo; it's been corrected now :)_

 _Guest: Caroline won't be around, but someone else will. Clara is still very important, don't worry. I'm glad you're liking the portrayal of the Doctor :)_


	7. Something Dark

**Something Dark**

What the universe did not help Caroline Alice Attwater with was actually finding where Martha Jones lived. Her plan was to find one of the Doctor's old companions and have them help her hunt down the Time Lord. If she could have she would've picked Martha, since the woman could actually phone the TARDIS, but she didn't actually know where Martha lived.

She didn't even know where any UNIT HQ was, so that wouldn't help either. That was the problem with only traveling about in a TARDIS; you didn't actually know where anything was if you were stuck alone. And she couldn't exactly get far by asking around for directions to a secret government facility.

Unless she managed, with a very slim chance, to encounter someone who actually worked for UNIT and believed her story, there was no chance she'd be finding UNIT. And without finding UNIT, she wouldn't find Martha.

She couldn't even find Torchwood! It appeared that all of the Doctor's companions were quite good at keeping a low profile unless you were an alien.

If you were just a human companion, there was no hope of finding them.

But Caroline didn't stop. Because now finding the Doctor had become more than just wanting to say goodbye to him. Now she wanted to do it to prove she could, to prove that she had abilities besides just following behind the Doctor and letting him take her hand.

To prove that she was worth something in the universe. Not worth the Doctor, never worth the Doctor, he deserved so much more, but worth something.

She just needed to find the Doctor first!

Caroline sat on the curb of a street after a long day of following any lead she had on Torchwood, rubbing her head. She wasn't getting anywhere and she didn't know how to, not anymore. Anything she tried didn't work, and she'd just be stuck back where she was.

On Earth, knowing the Doctor was going to his death and knowing she couldn't say goodbye to him.

She grimaced into her lap, taking a deep breath. She just had to keep calm. If she was calm she could focus, and if she could focus she could find the Doctor.

"Caroline?"

She recognized that voice. Oh, God, it was the worst voice she could have recognized out of anyone in the universe. Caroline looked up into the face of Wilfred Mott, Donna's grandfather. "Hello, Wilf."

He looked around them, checking that no one was looking. "What are you doing here? Is the Doctor here?"

"No." She tensed her fists. "The Doctor is not."

Wilf frowned. "Where is he then?"

"That's what I've been attempting to figure out."

Wilf's eyes widened. "Because of the dreams?"

Caroline frowned, standing. "What dreams?"

"Dreams no one can remember."

Caroline hadn't actually been doing much sleeping over the past few days, so she hadn't been able to experience that many dreams. "And they're bad?"

"Terrible."

She nodded. "And you remember them?"

"Yes." By the look on his face, Caroline supposed the dreams were too difficult to describe. She touched his arm and was suddenly shocked at how even her voice was. She'd barely met this man and she was speaking to him with almost no difficulty. "I think we need the Doctor."

"Yes. We most certainly do."

|C-S|

Sadly, Wilf didn't actually have any ideas about how to track down the Doctor. Caroline gave him her phone number just in case he, of all people, had any more sightings of the Doctor, but he didn't give her much confidence that they'd be able to track the Doctor down.

Caroline returned to her home and sat on the floor, staring at the spot she used to keep a Christmas tree. It had been two years, for Earth, since that first Christmas where she'd seen the Doctor. She had no idea how long it had been for her, how many years she'd spent traveling the universe by the Doctor's side. It was too difficult to attempt and keep track of it while in the TARDIS, even if she knew she was aging.

Maybe it had been one year, maybe two. Maybe ten.

There was no way to know how many years Caroline had spent with the Doctor.

But she knew exactly how many days it had been since she'd last seen him. She'd been counting them down, wishing that he would just appear one day, even in another body. If he'd died before she got the chance to say goodbye, she'd shout at him. And if he hadn't, she would do as she wanted.

All she wanted was to see the Doctor again, even if it was just one time.

That was all she asked for, all she needed.

"You miss him, don't you?"

Caroline turned at the sudden voice to see an elderly woman, dressed entirely in white, standing behind her. "Who are you?"

"That doesn't matter." The woman smiled. "You miss the Doctor."

"I want to find him."

"He doesn't want to be found."

"I don't care."

Her smile grew slightly. "He would be touched by your devotion to him."

"He's hiding." Caroline knew he wouldn't be. After the events with the Daleks, the Doctor would hate that she was attempting to find him. If he knew, he would just run further. He'd decided that she wouldn't be there, and she'd decided otherwise.

The only question now would be who's decision would stick.

The woman nodded. "Then you're lucky the universe is on your side."

"Why?"

"You are important, Caroline, so much more than either of you realize." When Caroline blinked, the woman vanished. She stared at the space for a moment longer, frowning, before turning back around and slowly drawing her fob watch from her pocket.

Sitting there, on the floor of her home, dreaming of finding the Doctor, Caroline studied the fob watch as much as it would let her. She didn't open it, just looked.

And looking was enough for the already forming link to draw just a bit more of her Time Lady consciousness out of the watch.

When Caroline looked up, her eyes were glowing gold.

|C-S|

Caroline waited outside of the Noble's home for Wilf. She knew she couldn't risk getting too close, not if there was the chance Donna could come round. But she and Wilf had agreed they would meet, and now she waited for him.

Thankfully, he came outside only a few minutes late, shouting back inside the home. And wearing Christmas antlers. "Just going down to the Lion. Quick little snifter. Christmas drinks. All right, ta-da." He hurried down the path and waited until the door closed before pulling out his mobile. "Paratroop One to Paratroop Two. We are mobilized. I repeat, we are mobilized. Rendezvous thirteen hundred hours. Over and out!" he waved Caroline over to him as a small bus turned the corner.

She'd called him the night before with a plan. Wilf himself may be an elderly man with a love for the stars, but he was also Donna's grandfather. And his granddaughter had all of the timelines converging on her and her path, and that influence extended onto him. It was how he'd been on the street the Doctor had teleported down to on Christmas.

Caroline was already being drawn to the Doctor, but with the help of another man with a similar problem, granted at a much smaller scale? They would find the Doctor.

They had to.

Because if this didn't work, she didn't know what she would do.

Really, she didn't know why she was so adamant that she find the Doctor. She missed him, of course, she wanted to say goodbye to him and prove to everyone else that she was worth something, but it was more than that.

There was a feeling in the pit of her stomach, a growing distaste the longer she was separated from him. Like there was a hook stuck into her gut and pulling but it didn't know where to go. Just this overwhelming desire to find the missing Time Lord.

And she couldn't explain it.

She tried to rationalize it, tried to determine some explanation for why she would feel this way. And she couldn't.

There was nothing her human mind could come up with to explain this feeling, no matter how hard she tried.

All Caroline knew was that she needed to find the Doctor, fast.

Because something was returning, from the darkness, something dangerous and powerful and something that had scared her very soul.

She just didn't know what it was.

Wilf did a little dance when the bus pulled up to them. "Come on! Way hey, shake a leg! Yay hey!" He was the first one to climb onboard, Caroline only a second after. The gathered collection of elderly men and women applauded his appearance. "Right then, come on, let's get going. Off we go." He stayed standing, turning to gesture to Caroline. "This is Caroline Attwater."

Caroline nodded. "Hello everyone."

"She's an old friend of Donna's." It was the simplest way to explain who she was to them, and it wasn't a lie. "And she needs to find someone. We both do."

"Conveniently, the same person." Wilf hadn't spent enough time around Caroline to realize that her tone of voice, her very movement, was nothing like she normally was, and it had nothing to do with the Doctor. "The Doctor."

Wilf nodded. "I drew up descriptions for all of you." He pulled a pile of papers from his coat, handing them to one of the group to pass around. Caroline managed to see that at least the first page featured a rather crude drawing of the Doctor. "He's tall and thin, wears a brown suit, maybe a blue suit. He's got a long brown coat. Modern sort of hair, all sticky-uppy, right?"

"Ex-boyfriend of yours then?" one of the old women said with a laugh. "Quite a looker!"

Caroline did manage to smile. "Not an ex-boyfriend, no."

"Break your heart, though, didn't he?"

"Anyway," Wilf cut in, not wanting to get too distracted, "on page two, be on the lookout for a police box exactly like the old ones."

The woman laughed again. "I got locked inside one of them. August Bank Holiday 1962."

A man chuckled. "Were you misbehaving, Minnie?"

"I certainly was. Way hey!"

Wilf sighed again. "Yeah, all right, all right." Everyone turned to him again. "Now listen, this is important. We have got to find it, right? So phone around. Phone everybody. Sally, will you get onto the Bridge club? Right. Winston, you try the old boys. Bobby, want you to ring the skiffle band, right? Between us, we've got the city covered."

"The Silver Cloak."

He nodded. "Yeah."

"Who is he, then, this Doctor?" the old man from before asked, understandably not satisfied with the very basic description Caroline had given.

Wilf glanced at Caroline again, but she shook her head. "No, we can't tell you that." The bus moaned. "I swear. But answer me this. Have you been having bad dreams?" They all stilled. "All of you? Dreams you can't remember? Yeah. Well, that's why we need him."

Caroline swallowed. "We need the Doctor more than ever."

Last night, she'd actually slept, unintentionally. But she remembered her dream. A red planet, with the sky burning.

Though she wasn't that surprised she wasn't sharing everyone's experience. She'd had enough experience with that, after the Library and the parallel world.

|C-S|

The Doctor stood on a small cliff looking over a construction site.

The Master had returned.

He'd watched the Master die in his arms, he'd burned his corpse himself, but he was back. The Ood had shown him. They'd told him that something dark was returning, that time was bleeding, and the Master was at the core of it.

And now he needed to find the Time Lord.

He stood on the cliff, closed his eyes, and focused. He could feel a Time Lord tugging at his mind, tugging at his senses, but he couldn't pinpoint it. It was too weak for him to find, all he knew was that it was there, existing somewhere nearby.

The Doctor opened his eyes when he heard four echoing knocks.

He will knock four times.

He ran towards the sound as the banging began again, quicker than before, only to come to a stop as he saw the Master himself standing on a hill, looking down at him. The Master leapt into the air in a way the Doctor had never seen before, with far more power than even a Time Lord was meant to possess.

The Doctor ran after him again and the Master waited for him, standing on a pile of iron beams. When he laughed, his body flickered to a skeleton.

"Please, let me help!" the Doctor tried, but the Master only looked at him with a smirk. "You're burning up your own life force!"

He said nothing, turning and jumping off the beams to disappear again.

He moved to follow only to run directly into Wilf and a group of other elderly men and women, all looking quite excited to see him.

Wilf cheered, grabbing his arm. "Oh, my gosh, Doctor. You're a sight for sore eyes."

He tried to shove past them. "Out of my way!" but the Master was gone. He'd run and it had already been too difficult to find him in the first place.

"Did we do it?" one of the elderly men asked. "Is that him?"

Another man nodded. "Tall and thin, big brown coat."

"The Silver Cloak!" a woman cheered. "It worked! Because Wilf phoned Netty, who phoned June, and her sister lives opposite Broadfell, and she saw the police box, and her neighbor saw this man heading east!"

The Doctor turned to Wilf. "Wilfred?"

"Yeah?"

"Have you told them who I am? You promised me!"

He shook his head. "No, we just said you were a doctor, that's all. And might I say, sir, it is an honor to see you again." Wilf saluted him and the Doctor groaned.

"Oh, but she never said he really was a looker," the woman said excitedly. "He's gorgeous. Take a photo!" she handed a camera to another man.

"Not bad, eh?" the man nodded. "Me next."

The woman latched herself onto the Doctor's arm. "I'm Minnie. Minnie the Menace. It's a long time since I had a photo with a handsome man."

Wilf groaned, glancing at something behind them. "Just get off him. Leave him alone, will you?"

"Hush, you old misery. Come on, Doctor," Minnie pat the Doctor's face. "Give us a smile." He gave a forced one, and thankfully it satisfied her. "That's it."

The camera clicked. "Hold on. Did it flash?"

Minnie sighed. "No, there's a blue light. Try again."

The man chuckled. "I'm all fingers and thumbs…"

The Doctor glanced around them again, hoping to see the Master somewhere, anywhere. "I'm really kind of busy, you know."

"Oh, it won't take a tick. Keep smiling."

The Doctor practically leapt into the air. "Is that your hand, Minnie?"

She just smirked. "Good boy."

"All right, all right," Wilf said, stepping forward. "I think that's enough." He stepped up to the Doctor again. "There's someone who wants to see you." And he pointed a bit further into the junkyard, back where he'd been looking before.

When the Doctor followed his gaze, he froze.

It was Caroline.

She was dressed differently than before, trading her long sweater for just an overlarge green one. And even from the distance apart they were, which was a commendable one, he could tell she looked tired.

If he didn't know any better, he even would have said she looked ill.

There was just something…off about the way Caroline was staring at him, hands in her pockets. Though, he supposed, there should be something off about her, because he had abandoned her without saying goodbye.

But he'd needed to, it was right, it was better for her. Better for him. Especially now that the Master was back.

He didn't want her anywhere near that man.

And there she was, staring at him silently, not making any movement to come towards him. She'd found him again, somehow.

The only woman in the universe who somehow managed to just keep running into him.

Slowly, the Doctor stepped forward. He knew he had to find the Master, but he couldn't just walk away from Caroline for a second time. And he would find the Master again, he knew he would, the man loved the chase so he would love forcing the Doctor to continue it.

He could take a pause to talk to Caroline.

"Hello," he said once he was close enough. Caroline still hadn't moved. "Caroline…"

Caroline slapped him.

He very rightfully deserved it, he knew that. After everything he'd done he really needed to be slapped.

"Yeah, deserved that," he groaned, rubbing his face. "Caroline…"

"You didn't let me say goodbye." Her voice was tense, harsher than he'd ever heard her before. And if he wasn't distracted by his hunt for the Master, or by how pale she was, he would have noticed the fact that he could sense the minuscule amount of Time Lady right in front of him. "You just left and you didn't let me say goodbye."

The Doctor nodded. "I know, I'm sorry."

"If you really wanted to face this on your own, you could have at least had the decency to say goodbye before waltzing back off into the universe!"

He frowned. "How did you…"

"I took advantage of the one other person who keeps intersecting your timeline." Caroline nodded back at Wilf. "Because I needed to see you again."

"Why?"

Caroline sighed, and he had the sense that she'd already asked herself that exact question multiple times. "I don't know, Doctor. I thought it was to say goodbye to you, but that's not it. And then I thought it was just to prove myself to the universe, but that's not it either. I know there's something, I just can't…" she shook her head, clenching her fists. "I don't know why, Doctor, but I couldn't just let you walk away." She noticed him move like he was reaching for her hand, instinct taking over, but she stepped back. "What is happening, Doctor?"

He couldn't tell her here.

 **A/N: Caroline's managed to find the Doctor again! Not much longer now before someone particular notices that fob watch...**

 **Notes on reviews:**

 _MageVicky: She did indeed slap him :)_

 _AxidentlGoddess: I'm glad you liked everything that happened with Mars; that event will continue to come back to haunt them :) The Master is indeed more observant than the Doctor..._

 _time-twilight: That is exactly what Caroline did, though it wasn't really what she'd originally intended ;)_

 _Guest: This type of review makes all writing worth it ;)_

 _: Hopefully you liked this chapter; sorry about nothing last week_

 _Scarlet: She did originally think that. Won't say anything about Amy now, although that is an exciting episode ;)_


	8. Something Old

**Something Old**

Thankfully, Wilf offered to take both of them to a café so that they could talk without the entire Silver Cloak looking over their shoulders. Caroline and the Doctor sat on either side of the bus, not looking at each other until they finally stopped.

Wilf led them outside. "Come on, then. Here we are, hurry up." He gestured them to the building as the bus drove off. "Over here, come on."

The Doctor frowned. "What's so special about this place? We passed fifteen cafés on the way."

Wilf didn't answer. "Yeah." He stepped aside to let other patrons leave. "Afternoon." Then, he brought them to a table near the window. The two sat across from each other, Caroline next to Wilf, and only stared. Caroline was very tempted to ask Wilf to leave, but she knew he had his own questions for the Doctor and that he didn't really understand why she had been searching for the man, though since she hadn't actually explained her reasons to him it was understandable. "We had some good times, didn't we, though? I mean, all those ATMOS things, and planets in the sky, and me with that paint gun." He laughed shakily. "I keep seeing things, Doctor. This face at night."

The Doctor pulled his gaze from Caroline. "Who are you?"

"I'm Wilfred Mott."

"No. People have waited hundreds of years to find me and then you manage it in a few hours." He glanced at Caroline.

Wilf shrugged. "Well, I'm just lucky I suppose."

He shook his head. "No, we keep on meeting, Wilf. Over and over again like something's still connecting us."

"What's so important about me?"

"Exactly. Why you?" That time, he tried extremely hard not to look at Caroline, though he had the exact same question about her.

"The universe always has a reason," Caroline said quietly.

"There's no such thing as destiny."

She shrugged. "Fixed events." Technically, they weren't destiny, but they were as close to it as time travelers could get.

The Doctor swallowed, hard, and leaned back further in his chair. "I'm going to die."

Wilf chuckled. "Well, so am I, one day."

"Don't you dare."

"All right, I'll try not to."

The Doctor looked towards Caroline again. "But I was told…'he will knock four times'. That was the prophecy. Knock four times, and then…"

"Yeah, but I thought, when I saw you before, you said your people could change, like, your whole body."

Caroline nodded. "Regeneration," she offered.

"I can still die. If I'm killed before regeneration, then I'm dead. Even then, even if I change, it feels like dying. Everything I am dies. Some new man goes sauntering away, and I'm dead." Wilf looked out the window. "What?"

It was Donna. Donna Noble, in the street, getting out of her car. Wilf had already told her about the life Donna was living now. He'd thought she'd want to see her. "I'm sorry, but I had to. Look, can't you make her better?"

The Doctor clenched his jaw. "Stop it."

"No, but you're so clever. Can't you bring her memory back? Look, just go to her now. Go on, just run across the street. Go up and say hello."

The Doctor shook his head. "If she ever remembers me, or Caroline, her mind will burn and she will die." They turned again, watching as Donna debated something with a traffic warden. "She's not changed," the Doctor laughed.

"Nah. Oh, there he is." A man walked up to Donna, carrying a few bags, and she switched her annoyance to him. "Shaun Temple. They're engaged. Getting married in the spring."

"Another wedding."

"Yeah."

The Doctor frowned. "Hold on, she's not going to be called Noble-Temple? That sounds like a tourist spot."

Wilf laughed. "No, it's Temple-Noble."

"Right. Is she happy? Is he nice?"

He nodded. "Yeah, he's sweet enough. He's a bit of a dreamer. Mind you, he's on minimum wage, she's earning tuppence, so all they can afford is a tiny little flat. And then sometimes I see this look on her face, like she's so sad, but she can't remember why."

The Doctor swallowed. "She's got him."

"She's making do."

"Aren't we all?"

"Yeah, how about you?" Wilf nodded between Caroline and the Doctor. "Why's she not traveling with you?"

"Travelling alone now." The Doctor looked at Caroline. "I did some things. It went wrong. I need…" he hung his head, leaning forward into his hands, and tried not to cry. He wasn't that successful.

Caroline was very tempted to just stay sitting there across from him, watching him suffer, but she couldn't. She moved around the table and took the seat next to him, touching his arm. It took a moment, but the Doctor turned to let her hug him, switching so that he could hold her tightly too.

"Oh, my word," Wilf breathed. "I'm sorry."

The Doctor breathed in the strawberry scent of Caroline before leaning back, switching to holding her hand below the table. "Merry Christmas."

"Yeah, and you."

He smiled sadly. "Look at us."

"But don't you see? You know, you need her, Doctor. I mean, look." Neither Time Lord nor companion knew if Wilf was speaking of Donna or Caroline. "Wouldn't she make you laugh again?"

|C-S|

The Doctor and Caroline walked through the streets of London, having stepped away from Wilf as soon as they could. The Doctor knew that he couldn't take Caroline with him, that he shouldn't, but he needed to tell her what was happening.

He didn't think he could bear her being angry at him much longer. "There's an old…friend of mine. I thought he was dead but…he's not. He's alive and I need to find him."

Caroline nodded. "And you have to do it alone."

"The Ood told me something is returning through the dark. Something bigger than me or him, but he's involved, I know he is. I just need to find him."

"I want to help."

"You can help by staying safe."

"And will you?"

"Will I what?"

Caroline stopped him. They were at the end of an alley and the crowd easily parted around them. "Stay safe."

"I'm going to try."

"Please, Doctor. Promise me you are going to be safe." And by safe, somehow he knew she didn't mean alive, because this him was dying no matter what. There was nothing he could change about that just by promising. A new him was going to go walking away and he was going to be dead. But, technically, he would still be safe.

"I promise."

|C-S|

The Doctor had upheld his promise.

He'd let Caroline wait in the TARDIS for him, telling her that if anyone other than him attempted to enter the TARDIS to just press one button and the TARDIS would bring her home before hiding somewhere safe. He didn't know how strong the Master was, or even if he desired to enter the TARDIS, but he couldn't just let Caroline come without knowing that she'd be safe.

So she'd stood by the console and watched the monitor. She couldn't see where the Doctor had gone or what he and the Master were doing, only the abandoned warehouse they'd landed next to, but she stared at it like the universe depended on it.

When the Doctor returned she was thankful, so thankful, that he was still alive. He was tired and angry, but he wasn't badly hurt.

Someone had taken the Master. The Doctor didn't know who, or why, but someone had. And now he couldn't sense the other Time Lord. It had always been weak, but with only one Time Lord left in the universe he was able to almost exactly pinpoint where the man was. But he couldn't now.

All he knew was that the Master was somewhere on Earth, which he supposed was helpful. But he still had an entire planet to search.

There was one person that the Doctor knew was involved: Wilf. Caroline may be drawn to him across the universe, but Wilf was involved now, he just knew it.

Especially because Wilf was the only human on Earth to remember the bad dreams.

The Doctor had asked Caroline about them once Wilf had brought it up, but she hadn't been able to tell him anything, because she didn't have them. For some reason even he couldn't figure out, Caroline was separate, again, from the normal human experience.

Part of him hoped it was just that she was a time traveler. But she was back in her own timeline now, she was running relative to everyone else. She wasn't traveling anywhere anymore, not like she had in the Library and the parallel world. Both of those times she'd been out of her normal time stream. True, the Doctor could explain away her experience in the Library by her being the last uploaded human and there just wasn't enough space for her, but the parallel world was different.

He'd never had a chance to ask Rose why she had gone to find Caroline. She hadn't needed the woman, all she'd needed was Donna, Donna was the one all the timelines were converging on. Caroline hadn't been able to do anything to help Rose's plan. So why had the woman gone looking for her and brought her to UNIT?

The Doctor didn't know. And now he never would, because Rose was locked away in another dimension with a human version of him to love. And he was here, with Caroline, about to die.

But he couldn't explain why she didn't get bad dreams.

There had always been something odd about Caroline, he wasn't going to deny that. He'd never really been able to pinpoint what the odd thing was, he'd just always known it was there. It was why he'd welcomed her into his TARDIS with Donna, and why he'd kept her when everyone else had left.

And he couldn't explain it.

He couldn't explain anything about Caroline. And that bothered him, more than he could possibly say. Because she was just a human, wasn't she? A smart human, a wonderful human, but a normal human! In the grand scheme of the universe she was a tiny blip, and yet he felt this pull towards her.

The Ood had mentioned it. Something returning, they'd said. Something born. And he'd seen Caroline, searching for him, trying to find him but for once not being able to.

There was some sort of force at work here, the Doctor just didn't know what.

The pair stood outside the Nobles' home, waiting for Wilf to come outside. They couldn't get too close and risk Donna seeing them, but the Doctor could certainly throw some rocks at his window to make the man come out to them.

"I lost him," the Doctor said once he spotted Wilf. "I was unconscious. He's still on Earth, I can smell him, but he's too far away."

Wilf glanced back at the house. "Listen, you can't park there. What if Donna sees it?"

"You're the only one, Wilf." The Doctor was holding Caroline's hand as he spoke, gripping it tightly. "The only connection I can think of. You're involved, if I could work out how." He shook his head. "Tell me, have you seen anything? I don't know. Anything strange, anything odd?"

Wilf frowned, thinking. "Well, there was a…

"What? What is it? Tell me."

"Well, it was…no, it's nothing."

"Think-a think-a think. Maybe something out of the blue. Something connected to your life. Something."

Wilf shrugged. "Well, Donna was a bit strange. She had a funny little moment, this morning, all because of that book."

Caroline frowned. "What book?"

Wilf hurried back into the house for a few minutes before coming back out, book in hand. The man on the cover was one the Doctor recognized. "His name's Joshua Naismith," Wilf explained.

The Doctor nodded. "That's the man. I was shown him by the Ood."

"By the what?"

"The Ood," Caroline said, frowning at the cover.

"What's the Ood?"

"They're just…the Ood. But it's all part of the convergence. Maybe? It may be touching Donna's subconscious." He grinned. "Oh, she's still fighting for us, even now. The Doctor-Donna."

"Dad, what are you up to?" Everyone looked up as Sylvia stepped out of the home, freezing the moment she saw the Doctor and Caroline. "You. But…get out of here!"

The Doctor laughed. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas." Sylvia looked back into the house, checking where Donna was. "But she can't see you. What if she remembers?"

"Mum," they could hear Donna's voice even from where they were standing, "where are those tweezers?"

"Go!"

The Doctor nodded, stepping back to the TARDIS, Caroline following him. "We're going."

Wilf hurried after them. "Yeah, me too."

Sylvia's eyes widened. "Oh no, you don't!"

"Mum?" Donna called again, and Sylvia couldn't get too far away. "Gramps?"

"Dad, I'm warning you!"

Wilf gave her a little wave. "Bye, see you later."

"Bit old for hide and seek."

"Stay right where you are!"

Wilf glanced at the Doctor. "You're not leaving me with her."

"Dad!"

The Time Lord shrugged. "Fair enough." He opened the TARDIS door and stepped back to let Wilf and Caroline inside.

"Just you listen to me! I forbid it! Get out of there!"

The Doctor ignored Sylvia, running up to the console. Caroline, however, paused next to Wilf, who was staring around the TARDIS in shock. "Naismith. If I can track him down…"

"Yes, it is bigger on the inside," Caroline said to Wilf, smiling at him. "Any more questions?"

Wilf just frowned at the TARDIS. "I thought it'd be cleaner."

The Doctor, who'd paused to listen to them, looked horribly offended. "Cleaner? I could take you back home right now." Caroline laughed at him and the Doctor grinned, returning to his work with piloting the TARDIS.

Wilf and Caroline moved up to the console, attempting to keep out of the Doctor's way as best they could. "Listen, Doctor, if this is a time machine, that man you're chasing, why can't you just pop back to yesterday and catch him?"

"I can't go back inside my own timeline." The Doctor pointed at something for Caroline to press for him, since she was the closest. "I have to stay relative to the Master within the casual nexus." He glanced at Wilf again and saw the man staring at him with an obviously confused expression. Normally he didn't just throw the guests in his TARDIS into everything like this, but he really didn't have a chance at the moment. "Understand?"

"Not a word."

The Doctor grinned. "Welcome aboard."

Wilf smiled. "Thank you."

The TARDIS landed smoother then Caroline expected and it was obvious that the Doctor sensed the Master's presence the moment he stepped out of the TARDIS. He'd explained to Caroline, briefly, about how Time Lords could sense each other.

"We've moved!" Wilf gasped, turning in a circle as he looked at the barn they found themselves in. "We've really moved!"

The Doctor glanced at him. "You should stay here." He was almost certain he was not going to get Caroline to stay, not after everything that had happened. She was determined now to follow him to his death; there had been too many times when she just left him asking him to promise to be safe. He always had, of course, but she couldn't risk him going on his own again.

Wilf just scoffed. "Not bloody likely."

"And don't swear!" the Doctor paused, turning back to face the TARDIS. "Hold on." He pointed his key at the TARDIS and it faded. "Just a second out of sync. Don't want the Master finding the TARDIS. That's the last thing we need."

They left the stables but paused almost instantly as a small patrol walked past. "That book said he's a billionaire," Wilf said quietly. "He's got his own private army."

Slowly, the Doctor glanced around the corner and gestured for them to follow. "Down here." He brought them to a small door in the side of an arch, sonicing it open. Thankfully, they all managed to get inside before the guards walked past again. They were at the top of a staircase that appeared to lead to the basement. It was the only way they could go, so they followed it down, moving quietly the moment they began to hear someone speaking.

"Miss Addams, we're getting some encouraging results from the ratio-foldback." They neared the room and could tell that the man speaking was doing so through a comm. system. "Can you confirm?"

"The man's a miracle," a woman said, just as the Doctor peered around the corner. "All the systems are slotting back into place. The shatterthreads have harmonized, the fiber links have intensified. And the multiple overshots have triplicated."

"Nice Gate," the Doctor said cheerfully, making the woman spin.

"Hello!" Wilf appeared as well, the trio stepping fully into the room.

"Don't try calling security," the Doctor said as the woman clearly moved to do just that, "or I'll tell them you're wearing a Shimmer. Because I reckon anyone wearing a Shimmer doesn't want the Shimmer to be noticed, or they wouldn't need a Shimmer in the first place."

The woman frowned, shaking her head. "I'm sorry? What's a…Shimmer?"

The Doctor pointed his sonic at her. "Shimmer." As he spoke, the woman faded into that of something that was very clearly alien; green, humanoid, with spikes sticking out of her face.

Wilf gasped. "Oh, my Lord. She's a cactus."

"Miss Addams?" the man on the comms. called. "Miss Addams?"

The Doctor moved to look at the computer the woman had just been studying. "He's got it working, but what is it? What's working?"

Another man ran into the room. "What are you doing here?"

The Doctor didn't even look at him, just pointing his sonic at him. "Shimmer!" Unsurprisingly, the man was the same alien as the woman. "Now, tell me quickly, what's going on? The Master, Harold Saxon, Skeletor, whatever you're calling him, what's he doing up there?"

The man shook his head. "But I checked the readings. He's done good work. It's operational."

"Who are you, though?" the Doctor glanced at him. "I met someone like you. He was brilliant, but he was little and red."

The woman sighed. "No, that's a Zocci."

"We're not Zocci, we're Vinvocci. Completely different." The Doctor just raised an eyebrow.

"And the Gate is Vinvocci. We're a salvage team. We picked up the signal when the humans reactivated it. And as soon as it's working, we can transport it to the ship."

The Doctor and Caroline glanced at the Gate in question, or at least part of it. "But what does it do?"

"Well," the man shrugged, "it mends. It's as simple as that. It's a medical device to repair the body. It makes people better."

"No, there's got to be more." The Doctor looked back at the computer. "Every single warning says the Master's going to do something colossal."

Wilf frowned at the machine, which was admittedly taking up about half of the room. "So that thing's like a sickbed, yes?"

"More or less."

"Why is it so big?" Caroline asked, louder than she normally did. The Doctor nodded, looking at the Vinvocci expectantly.

"It doesn't just mend one person at a time."

The man nodded. "That would be ridiculous."

"It mends whole planets."

The Doctor froze. "It does what?"

"It transmits the medical template across the entire population."

The Doctor didn't wait another second. He turned and ran out of the room, leaving Caroline and Wilf just to follow him, though very quickly Caroline just abandoned Wilf to get closer to the Doctor. She managed to run into the room, something that was obviously a control for the gate, a second after the Doctor did, nearly running into the man as he'd stopped with his hands in the air since every single guard had their weapons pointed at him.

Instantly, Caroline looked to the blonde man standing there in a straightjacket, smirking at the Doctor. But once the man saw Caroline he looked to her and looked shocked, his mouth falling open for a second before he slammed it shut. But she knew, in that moment, that he recognized her.

Somehow, he recognized her.

"Whatever you do," the Doctor said frantically, "just don't let him near that device."

The man, who Caroline guessed to be the Master, redirected his attention to the Doctor. "Oh, like that was ever going to happen." He flung off his straightjacket and leapt into the air, managing to land in the Gate, which looked more like a gate then the thing in the basement. "Homeless, was I? Destitute and dying? Well, look at me now!" he spread his arms wide.

"Deactivate it!" the Doctor tried. "All of you, turn that whole thing off!"

But it wasn't working, because no one was listening. They were all gripping their heads, shaking from pain. It was affecting everyone.

Everyone, that is, except Caroline Alice Attwater.

The Master laughed and the Doctor stepped forward. "Get out of there!" he shouted, but the Master just shot a bolt of energy directly into the Doctor's chest, knocking him to the ground, and turned to Caroline like he expected her to do the same.

And he looked shocked when she was motionless, staring at him with wide eyes.

"Doctor!" Wilf called, stumbling into the room and holding his head. "Doctor, there's…there's this face."

The Doctor rushed to the man. "What is it? What can you see?"

"Well, it's him!" Wilf managed to point at the Master. "I can see him!"

The Doctor ran to a nearby computer. "I can't turn it off."

"That's because I locked it, idiot," the Master sneered, not taking his gaze off of Caroline.

"Wilfred!" the Doctor grabbed Wilf's arm and dragged him to a small glass room. "Get inside. Get him out!" Wilf traded places with a technician while the Doctor worked the controls. "Just need to filter the levels."

"Oh, I can see again! He's gone."

The Doctor nodded. "Radiation shielding. Now press the button. Let me out."

"You what?"

"I can't get out until you press the button, that button there." Wilf did so and the Doctor ran out again, stopping by Caroline's side, not seeming to register that she wasn't reacting the same way as any of the humans.

"Fifty seconds and counting," the Master called.

"To what?"

The Time Lord just grinned, laughing. "Oh, you're going to love this."

The Doctor ran to the computers again, frantically trying to find some way to turn it off. The Master watched Caroline standing there, smirking, and she touched her pocket, feeling the fob watch there, feeling a pull towards it.

"What is it, hypnotism?" the Doctor's voice shocked her out of it, and she turned to face him. "Mind control. You're grafting your thoughts inside them, is that it?"

The Master shook his head. "Oh, that's way too easy. No, no, no. They're not going to think like me, they're going to become me!" he spread his arms wide again. "And, zero!"

A burst of energy shot out of the machine, spreading across the entire planet. Everyone, save the Doctor, the Master, Wilf, and Caroline, began to shake violently, their bodies becoming blurs.

The Doctor stared at them and he knew what was going to happen. "You can't have!"

"What is it?" Wilf was holding his phone. "Doctor? She's starting to remember!"

Everyone in the world froze and Caroline felt sick, because they all had the Master's face, every last one of them.

Except her.

And in that moment it seemed like the Doctor finally realized that, turning to her with wide eyes, the same expression the Master had when he'd first seen her. Because if the Master had turned every single human on the face of the Earth into himself…why hadn't she changed?

He could explain away the Library and the parallel world and how she kept managing to find him, but not this.

"What is it?" Wilf asked again. "What have you done, you monster?"

The Master leapt from the Gate. "Oh, I'm sorry, are you talking to me?"

"Or to me?" the question went around to all of the clones in the room, all grinning the exact same smile. The Doctor turned in a small circle, helpless.

The Master walked to Caroline's side. "The human race was always your favorite, Doctor," he said, gesturing at all of the clones. "But now, there is no human race. There is only the Master race!" he began to laugh, and every single clone across the world picked it up. But then the Master paused, looking down at her. "Hello Adelaide. Did you miss me?"

 **A/N: The Master recognizes her! Whatever could that mean ;)**

 **Only two more chapters of this story left, and then we'll be getting the next part of this series. I'll give you the name of the next story next chapter, so look forward to that.**

 **Notes on reviews:**

 _X-Lisa-Anne-X: Hope you like the update!_

 _Sageclaw: I'm so glad to hear that! This series has become one of my favorites too; I'm glad to know that you like Caroline's development, it's one of the things I'm most worried about_

 _time-twilight: He did indeed :) the Doctor will have an interesting reaction to everything, as will Caroline ;)_

 _Guest: Soon, soon, I promise it will be soon ;)_

 _MageVicky: I did debate it, but I decided it was just too perfect of a moment for a slap to waste it :)_

 _Guest: Perhaps it will be him ;)_


	9. Something Born

**Something Born**

Given the amount of Master's in the room, it wasn't that surprising that it was easy to subdue the Doctor. It was also helpful that he was in pure shock because the entire human race, save two, had turned into clones of the Master.

The Doctor was still staring at Caroline as he was dragged away and secured.

Caroline, on the other hand, was brought to the room by the Master himself, the man taking her arm and forcing her onto a chair. Then he crouched before her and searched her pockets, pulling out the fob watch like it was the most delicate thing in the universe. He held it gingerly, smiling at it, before standing and gesturing for a guard to tie Caroline's arms behind her back.

Meanwhile, the Doctor was strapped to a wheeled upright chair, gag over his mouth, and practically motionless. Wilf was similar to Caroline, though with a few more ropes.

When the Master stepped back, he kept a hold of the fob watch, enjoying waving it and watching Caroline's eyes follow it instinctively, even enjoying the way the Doctor stared at it in horror. He was too far away to actually read any of the writing on it, but the Time Lord could still recognize it.

Now that it was brought to his attention, he couldn't help but see it.

Once they were all secured, the Master backed up more, grinning. "Now then, I've got a planet to run." He turned to the screen in the wall. "Is everybody ready?"

"6,727,949,338 versions of us awaiting orders," the Master that had once been Joshua Naismith replied.

"This is Washington," previous President. "As President of the United States, I can transfer all the United Nations protocols to you immediately, putting you in charge of all the Earth's defenses."

"UNIT HQ, Geneva reporting. All under your command, sir."

"And this is Central Military Commission here in Beijing, sir, with over 2.5 million soldiers, sir."

The Master nodded. "Enough soldiers and weapons to turn this planet into a warship." He looked towards the Doctor. "Nothing to say, Doctor?" He moved a bit closer, pouting. "What's that? Pardon? Sorry?"

"You let him go, you swine," Wilf called.

The Master sighed. "Oh, your dad's still kicking up a fuss."

"Yeah? Well, I'd be proud if I was."

He held a finger to his lips. "Hush, now. Listen to your Master." He glanced to Caroline and there was a brief frown. "What about you? Anything to say?" She opened her mouth slightly, but he held up a finger. "What's your name?"

"Caroline."

The Master shrugged. "Pitifully human." He turned back to the Doctor only to stiffen when a phone rang. He looked to the Doctor, but the Time Lord was only staring across the room at Wilf. "But that's a mobile!"

Wilf tried to laugh. "Yeah, it's mine. Let me turn it off."

The Master hurried over to him. "No, no, no, no, no. I don't think you understand. Everybody on this planet is me. And I'm not phoning you, so who the hell is that?" He began to search the man's pockets.

"It's nobody. I tell you, it's nothing. It's probably one of them ring-back calls."

The Master pulled a revolver from Wilf's pockets, holding it up to show the Doctor and Caroline. "Ooo, and look at this. Good man!" He tossed it away but managed to find the phone. "Donna. Who's Donna?"

Wilf shook his head. "She's no one. Just leave it."

But the Master just answered the phone. "Gramps, don't hang up, you've got to help me!" Donna sounded terrified, and the Master watched Caroline's expression falter. "I ran out, but everyone was changing."

"Who is she?" the Master asked Caroline. "Why didn't she change?"

"Gramps, I can't hear you."

"Tell me, Adelaide!"

Caroline swallowed. "The Metacrisis."

The Master's eyes widened. "Oh, he loves playing with Earth girls!"

"Are you there?"

"Find her," the Master told his clones. "Trace the call."

"Are you still there? Can you hear me?"

The Master held the phone up to Wilf. "Say goodbye to the freak, Granddad."

"Donna, get out of there!" Wilf tried to warn his granddaughter, tried to save her. "Just get out of there! I'm telling you, run!"

"She's on Wessex Lane, Chiswick," the Joshua-Master called. "Open the phone lines. Everyone on Wessex Land. Red alert."

"What do I do?"

"Run, sweetheart, that's all. Run for your life!"

"There's more of them…"

"Donna?" Wilf frowned. "What's happening? Are you still there?"

"They're everywhere…"

"Look, I'm telling you to run, Donna. Just run, sweetheart! Just run!"

"It's not just them. I can see those things again. Those…creatures. Why can I see a giant wasp?" the Master watched Caroline's eyes widen.

"Donna, don't think about that. Donna, my love, don't!"

"And it hurts. My head. It keeps getting hotter, and hotter, and hotter, and hotter, and hotter!" there was a scream. "What did I…" and then the line went dead.

"Donna?" Wilf cried, frantic. "What was that? Donna? Donna, are you there? Donna! Donna! Donna!"

Now the Master looked towards the Doctor. The Time Lord was smiling, grinning. He strode over and ripped off the gag. "That's better! Hello! But really, did you think I'd leave one of my best friends without a defense mechanism?" he smirked.

"Doctor?" Wilf asked. "What happened?"

"She's all right. She's fine, I promise. She'll just sleep." He looked to Caroline. "Are you alright?"

But when she opened her mouth to speak, the Master sneered and backed up from the Doctor, crouching before Caroline again. "It's strange, isn't it?" he held out the watch again. "Stuffed inside here, hidden away? Doesn't it just hurt?"

"I don't…"

"What are you talking about?"

He looked back at the Doctor. "What, don't tell me you don't know?" by the way he spoke, it was very clear that he knew quite well that the Doctor had no idea what he was talking about. "You don't know that your own companion is a Time Lady?" He paused, relishing in their shock. "You didn't recognize a Chameleon Arch?"

The Doctor's eyes widened. "No…"

The Master grinned. "Now you're getting it. Took you long enough." He poked Caroline's forehead as he stood. "I must say, I am a bit surprised you managed to run into the Doctor, of all people." He chuckled. "I'd even say you were Aligned." But he said it like it was a joke, a teasing phrase only the Doctor understood. "Shall we open it, right now? Return the Time Lady Adelaide to the universe?"

But Caroline shook her head. "No…"

He looked a bit surprised. "Really?" he tossed it into the air. "I do suppose it has to be opened willingly, so I can't exactly force you." He stepped back to the Doctor. "Tell me," he said to the Time Lord, "where's your TARDIS?"

The Doctor's voice was shaking now and it had taken quite a bit of effort to draw his gaze away from Caroline. "You could be so wonderful."

"Where is it?"

"You're a genius. You're stone cold brilliant, you are." The Master scoffed. "I swear, you really are. But you could be so much more. You could be beautiful. With a mind like that, we could travel the stars. It would be my honor. Because you don't need to own the universe, just see it. To have the privilege of seeing the whole of time and space. That's ownership enough." He couldn't focus on Caroline, not now, not when the Master was the one with all the power and control of the situation.

The Master frowned. "Would it stop, then? The noise in my head?"

"I can help."

"I don't know what I'd be without that noise."

"I wonder what I'd be, without you."

He smiled. "Yeah." He glanced back at Caroline. "I told you about that noise, Adelaide. Remember?" then he chuckled. "Oh, of course you don't. My apologies."

"What does he mean?" Wilf asked. "What noise?"

The Master stood, running a hand down his face. "It began on Gallifrey, as children. Not that you'd call it childhood." He sat on the desk behind Caroline. "More a life of duty. Eight years old. I was taken for initiation, to stare into the Untempered Schism."

"What does that mean?"

"It's a gap in the fabric of reality," the Doctor said. "You can see into the Time Vortex itself. And it hurts."

"They took me there in the dark. I looked into time, old man, and I heard it calling to me." He clenched his fists. "Drums. The never ending drums. Listen to it." He closed his eyes. "Listen."

"Then let's find it," the Doctor offered. "You and me."

The Master pouted. "Don't want to include your precious little companion Time Lady? She'd be so upset. Wouldn't you, Adelaide? So very upset." His eyes widened. "Except…oh. Oh, wait a minute. Oh, yes. Oh, that's good." He leapt from the desk, moving back towards the center of the room.

"What? What is?"

"The noise exists within my head, and now within six billion heads. Everyone on Earth can hear it. Imagine…oh. Oh, yes." He laughed until his body flashed as a skeleton again, making him collapse to the ground, gripping his head.

"The Gate wasn't enough," the Doctor said. "You're still dying."

"This body was born out of death," he sneered. "All it can do is die." He straightened, pointing at the Doctor. "But what did you say to me, back in the wasteland? You said the end of time."

"I said something is returning. I was shown a prophecy. That's why I need your help."

But the Master wasn't listening, not really. "What if I'm part of it? Don't you see? The drumbeat is calling from so far away. From the end of time itself. And now it's amplified six billion times. Triangulate all those signals…I could find its source. Oh, Doctor. That's what your prophecy was. Me!" he strode forward and slapped the Doctor. "Where's the TARDIS?"

"No. Just stop. Just think."

"Kill him." The Master pointed back at Wilf, moving so that he stood beside the helmeted guard. "I need that technology, Doctor. Tell me where it is, or the old man is dead."

Wilf shook his head. "Don't tell him!"

"I'll kill him right now!"

The Doctor only smirked. "Actually, the most impressive thing about you is that after all this time, you're still bone dead stupid."

The Master rolled his neck. "Take aim."

"You've got six billion pairs of eyes, but you still can't see the obvious, can you?"

"Like what?"

"That guard…is one inch too tall."

The Master turned sharply, but it was already too late. The guard swung the butt of his rifle and hit the Master square on the forehead, making the man crumble to the ground. It was a Vinvocci. "Oh my God, I hit him. I've never hit anyone in my life."

The woman ran into the room, pulling out a knife. "Well, come on. We need to get out of here fast." She cut Caroline free first, and the woman leapt to the Master's body, searching for the fob watch like her life depended on it.

And, literally, it did.

"God bless the cactuses!" Wilf cheered as the woman cut him free as well.

"That's cacti," the Doctor corrected.

"That's racist!"

The woman sighed, seeing the man Vinvocci still struggling with the Doctor's bonds. "Come on! We've got to get out!"

"There's too many buckles and straps!"

"Just wheel him!"

"No, no, no!" the Doctor shouted as the male prepared to do just that, Caroline straightening with the fob watch protectively gripped in her hand. "Get me out! No, no, no, don't! Don't! No, no, no!"

The Vinvocci pushed the Doctor out of the room, leaving Caroline and Wilf to follow. "Which way?" the male asked.

"This way!" the woman led the way.

"No, no, no, no, no. The other way. I've got my TARDIS."

"I know what I'm doing!"

"No, no, no, just…just listen to me!" and then they arrived at a staircase. "Not the stairs! Not the stairs!" The Vinvocci didn't care, and the Doctor winced in pain each time. "Worst…rescue…ever!" They ran into the same basement lab as before. "Just…just stop and listen to me!"

The Master clones ran in on either side of the room, the Master himself appearing among them, grinning. "Gotcha."

The female Vinvocci smirked. "You think so?" she pressed her watch even as the Doctor protested.

They teleported onto what must have been the Vinvocci ship if they had the technology to teleport to it. Wilf stumbled away in shock, and Caroline stepped back, finally staring at the watch and really seeing it.

"Now get me out of this thing!"

The woman sighed, but she did as the Doctor ordered. "Don't say thanks, will you?"

"He's not going to let us go. Just hurry up and get me out!"

"Oh, my goodness me," Wilf breathed from the nearby window. "We're in space!"

"Come on!"

"All right!"

"Oh, get a move on!" they finally managed to get the Doctor free and he leapt forward, sonicing the controls until they sparked. "Where's your flight deck?"

The woman frowned. "But we're safe. We're a hundred thousand miles above the Earth."

"And he's got every single missile on the planet ready to fire."

"Good point!" the Vinvocci and the Doctor ran from the room.

Caroline, in turn, turned to Wilf. "We have to go."

"We're in space!"

She nodded. "I know."

Thankfully, Wilf followed her away from the window. They entered the room just as the Doctor held up his hands to silence everyone, the ship silent around them. "Shush, shush, shush, shush, shush…"

After a few seconds, the female Vinvocci sighed. "No sign of any missiles. No sign of anything! You've wrecked the place!"

The man ran to the controls, trying to do anything, but thankfully nothing happened. "The engines are burnt out. All we've got is auxiliary lights. Everything else is kaput. We can't move. We're stuck in orbit."

"Thanks to you, you idiot!" they stormed out of the room, leaving just the Doctor, Caroline, and Wilf.

The Time Lord looked towards the ground. "I know you, though," Wilf said, chuckling. "I bet you've got a plan, haven't you? Eh? Come on. You've always got a trick up your sleeve. Nice little bit of the old Doctor flim-flam sort of thing? Eh?" but the Doctor was silent. "Oh, blimey."

The Doctor looked up at Caroline, standing there clutching the fob watch. "Wilfred…can you give us some time?" The man left without any complaint, and the Time Lord turned to her. She was whispering the name the Master had used, Adelaide.

It was time.

Now that the fob watch had been brought to her attention, now that she could see it, she couldn't get it out of her head. It was all she could think of. Any other thought would be shoved away, pushed aside because it wasn't important, not right then. What was important at that moment was the fob watch.

"Can I hold it?" It didn't look like she wanted to let it go, but she did, holding it out for him to take. The moment he touched it he knew the Master was telling the truth. Not that he hadn't believed the man, he'd recognized the fob watch the moment he'd seen it. But now, holding it, feeling the Time Lord consciousness bubbling under his fingertips, he knew without a doubt that the Master had been telling the truth.

Caroline was a Time Lady.

The Doctor couldn't be angry at her. He wasn't. She'd had no idea she was a Time Lady. There was no way for her to have known. There had to have been a reason she had turned human in the first place. But he had grown to love Caroline, this human woman that loved green and strawberries and had the eye of a scientist.

He loved her. He did. He couldn't deny it, and he refused to think that he would be losing her. Because he hadn't lost John Smith when he'd opened the fob watch. There was still some of John Smith in him, something that had been harnessed when he'd used the Chameleon Arch.

And when Caroline opened the watch, there would still be some Caroline in the new Time Lady that would take her place.

No. Not take her place. Caroline wasn't who she was. He couldn't mourn the loss of Caroline because she wasn't dying. He was a Time Lord; he knew what would actually happen.

A Time Lady was just returning to the universe.

The Doctor returned the watch to Caroline and she looked down at it, shaking. "I'm…" she began, and then her voice broke, full of pain and fear. Because it felt like she was going to die.

Caroline Alice Attwater was going to die.

He drew Caroline tightly into his arms. She was shaking, vibrating, horribly terrified. "You don't need to apologize," he whispered against her hair, pressing a light kiss to the top of her head, relishing in the strawberry smell. "I understand."

"I'm scared." Her grip on the fob watch was so tight that she knew her knuckles would be white.

"I know."

Very slowly, Caroline pulled away from him, reaching up to touch his cheek with her empty hand before stepping back, holding the watch out before her, both of their eyes falling to it. She wasn't going to wait any longer. She couldn't.

It had been leaking for so long, but now it was time for it to be opened.

There was a blinding light. A stream of what looked like golden Gallifreyan writing swirled through the air, entering her lovely green eyes and making the edges of her irises glow gold. The area around her almost seemed to glow, as though she was exuding light.

And then it all faded. She closed her eyes, and in that split second her entire bearing changed. Her back straightened, her face hardened, her eyes narrowed. She gained a harsh exterior, a shell, a wall she was hiding behind. She shielded herself as instinct.

When she opened her eyes, even the green shade seemed different, even if it was exactly the same. They widened, softened at the edges, at the sight of the Doctor standing before her. "Doctor…" she breathed, the fob watch falling and clattering to the ground at her feet.

The Doctor nodded. "What is your name?" he'd heard the Master say it, he'd even heard Caroline say it, trying it out on her tongue. But never her.

"Adelaide." She pulled her gaze away from him to look at the ship around them, her fingertips glowing slightly golden from settling regeneration energy. "I presume you're going to attempt to fix this ship?"

He didn't know anything about Adelaide, the Time Lady.

He didn't even know how old she was.

"Doctor?" his name sounded different now. Before Caroline would say it with love, he could admit that, this overwhelming love. But now…there was nothing. "Are you alright?"

"How does the Master know you?" How did the Master know who she was the moment she looked at him?

How did he know and the Doctor didn't?

Adelaide furrowed her brow, focusing. "I helped him escape from Gallifrey."

When the Doctor had last seen the Master, the man had told him that he'd been resurrected for the Time War and he'd run away. Hidden himself as Professor Yana at the end of the universe. He'd never mentioned a Time Lady helping him escape from the dying planet. "How…"

"Time Lords resurrected him, I found him, we ran together." She stared at a point over his shoulder. "Turned ourselves human and promised to find each other once we were returned to our Time Lord selves, if it ever happened. Wanted to be separate to keep each other safer." She frowned. "He must have looked for me, but I got the time wrong, ended up too late, right after he died."

The Doctor wasn't going to deny it…he'd heard of Adelaide. Not by name, not even as a truth, but as a story.

He'd heard tell on the battlefields that a Time Lady had turned herself human to avoid her responsibilities in the Time War. She was meant to bring the armies of the universe to assist the Time Lords, and instead, she'd run.

She'd been a hated figure, a detested one. Some had even blamed her for any lost battles.

If only the Time Lady hadn't run. Then they'd all be safe.

He hadn't believed the stories, no one had, not really. No one had actually thought any Time Lady had that power to turn the tide of the battle, or that one would actually run instead of helping. He'd run, he'd run so far, but she'd gone farther, she'd turned herself human to hide.

But the stories had been true. The evidence of it was standing right in front of him, frowning, and ever so alive.

The last Time Lady in the universe.

A Time Lady Victorious.

"Any other questions?" She was looking at him again, hands clasped in front of her. The green sweater didn't seem to fit her anymore.

"Why did you run?"

Adelaide smiled. "That, Doctor, is a tale for another day." She looked around at the ship again. "I'm sorry to say that I've never actually encountered a Vinvocci vessel, so I won't really be much help to you." Then she paused again, and the Doctor could see the logic that he'd come to expect from Caroline, the processing of events. It just appeared that Adelaide was more willing to share bits of her process, if not the entire thing. "What is the prophecy the Ood shared with you?"

Of course. He hadn't actually told Caroline all of the specifics, so there was no way for Adelaide to know it. "'Something born. It is returning. They are returning. He is returning. Both he, it and they are returning, but it is too late.'"

Adelaide nodded. "'He' is the Master. I can presume that the 'something' is me, since I'm not an 'it', and one could say I've just been born. The question just remains what the other two options are."

"Yes."

She nodded again, as though that was enough explanation, and stepped back. "To Vinvocci?"

The Doctor swallowed hard and nodded.

|C-S|

Adelaide felt…odd.

It was a surprisingly fitting word. She'd been locked inside a fob watch for so long she'd almost forgotten what it was like to actually be in her body, breathing air, listening to her twin hearts beat their four-count rhythm.

Watching the Doctor stare at her in some mixture of shock and horror.

She felt odd.

She and the Doctor didn't speak after their first conversation, moving to opposite sides of the room, working on bits of the ship. While she hadn't actually encountered Vinvocci, she'd seen things similar enough, she knew somewhat what to expect.

It was a bit difficult to get used to operating properly again, she'd spent so long locked inside and then just trickling out, slowly, whenever Caroline Attwater nearly opened the watch. Occasionally there'd be a small spark of regeneration energy, the force readjusting to her body, but not enough to do any damage, thankfully.

The Doctor kept looking at her, and she did the same, each moment they thought the other wasn't looking. Sometimes they were right, and sometimes they were wrong. Then their eyes would meet for a few seconds before looking away again.

Adelaide had spent so long around various dangerous alien races she'd taught herself to control her emotions, how to seem calm even when she was raging on the inside, and she was very thankful for that now. Time Lords were a telepathic people, but they couldn't just enter anyone's mind, thankfully. The Doctor had no idea what was going on inside her head.

Just as she had no idea what was going on inside of his.

But she knew he was hurt.

And Adelaide tried to pretend she didn't know why.

The point of the Chameleon arch was that even she didn't know it had happened. It was the perfect, undetectable way to hide. It wasn't surprising that the Doctor had never noticed; the fob watch had a perception filter on it, after all, set specifically for Time Lords, or Time Lords turned human.

It was why she had been so glad to know that the Master was somewhere else in the universe and that he knew what her face was because they had promised to find each other again if ever they regained their Time Lord consciousness. Once they were back in the universe it would be all too easy for Time Lords to commandeer some sort of time travel, even the most rudimentary kind. And they'd both known exactly where the other was going, exactly how to find them.

Their plan, their promise, had been that they would find each other.

She didn't blame the Master for not managing it. She knew now that she'd landed a bit off, about a year too late. Not much, especially considering she'd been attempting to pilot a nearly destroyed TARDIS, but enough for a Time Lord on the run from the Doctor. She'd arrived at just the wrong time, just when he wouldn't be able to find her, so she'd been stuck inside the fob watch.

And found by the Doctor.

She couldn't actually explain that, which was one of the oddest things about it all. Out of all the places in the universe, the Doctor had managed to land precisely at times and places where the human her would be. At least one chance encounter could have happened, just because of Time Lord nature, self-calling-to-self, even when in a fob watch, but as many times as it had happened? And the Doctor letting her into his TARDIS?

Because she remembered everything about being Caroline. True, the beginning was a bit blurry, a bit rough around the edges. But the moment she'd left the Library…that was almost crystal clear.

When she'd been saved in the Library, the young girl would have been able to save her perfectly if she'd been one hundred percent human. She would have had a life like Donna, happy, safe, oblivious. But when CAL had attempted to take Caroline, she'd also been forced to deal with the hidden Adelaide.

And that had proven too much.

Something had broken, gotten corrupted, and the seal keeping Adelaide inside the fob watch had broken. Not enough to let her out, that would only happen if Caroline had opened the watch, but enough to let the tiniest, minuscule amount of her drift back into Caroline.

Just enough so that when the Doctor had been in danger on Midnight, the overflow of emotions had proven too much for her human mind. If it had gone on much longer, if the Doctor hadn't been saved…Caroline would have died. Her mind would have combusted and Adelaide would have been lost.

Thankfully, though, that hadn't happened.

Adelaide kept drifting into Caroline after that. Not enough that the Doctor recognized her for what she was, but enough so that when Donna had a parallel world created around her, Caroline remembered the original as if she'd been a full-blown Time Lady. Enough so that when the Doctor prepared to break one of the most crucial rules of Time Lord law on Mars, she'd been able to pilot the TARDIS back.

The Doctor couldn't blame himself, not for any of it, because he wasn't supposed to notice. The Master had only known who she was because he'd seen her as a Time Lady, but the Doctor never had. She could never have expected him to learn who she was.

She would have just stayed in the fob watch had the Master not returned.

Of course, there was always the chance that, after enough time, enough of Adelaide would have entered Caroline for the Doctor to at least pick up on it, and then he would have found the fob watch and it likely would have been a much easier event for the both of them.

But they'd been forced into it because the Master had told them the truth she couldn't really wait much longer before opening the watch.

And Caroline had been lost.

No, not lost, not really. Just…hidden. Returned to the deep place inside her soul where she had always resided, brewing just below the surface. But she didn't die. Everything had just returned to the way it was meant to be.

But the Doctor had kissed Caroline. The Doctor had taken Caroline's hand and pulled her across the universe, delighted in showing her everything time had to offer. The Doctor had trusted Caroline.

Adelaide was a stranger.

A complete and utter stranger that knew quite a bit about him. The Doctor hadn't shared many specific details about his past, but he'd shared enough that Adelaide had enough of a picture of him.

Not enough to make a real judgment of her opinion, but enough to know what type of a man he was.

The Doctor didn't have any of that.

Certainly, he could assume some things had stayed the same between Caroline and Adelaide, but there was no saying how far that extended and how much of his precious human companion he would find in her. Perhaps everything, and perhaps nothing. There was no way to say until they spent more time together.

They didn't have time for that now. Now, they had to work on controlling exactly when the Vinvocci ship would become visible to the Master again.

Adelaide had liked the young boy she'd met back on Gallifrey, and it was that boy that she'd helped escape the war. Perhaps, if he had been the one to find her as a human, her opinion of him would have changed. But Adelaide knew that the Master had changed; he'd changed a great deal.

Or perhaps he hadn't changed at all and Adelaide had misjudged him. She'd only seen a child, innocent and harmless.

She had no idea of the madness dwelling in his mind.

The universe was a different place without the Time Lords standing watch over everything, even Adelaide, who'd never wanted to rely on them, could admit it. It did help that she'd had a few years to get used to it as a highly observant human; that gave Adelaide enough to know that she, and the Doctor, had a responsibility to save the human race. Adelaide especially; she'd helped unleash this madman back into the universe.

Before, perhaps, the Time Lords could have been tempted to help if it was another Time Lord at the center of the problem, but now there was no one else out there in the universe.

There was just them.

"Adelaide," the Doctor said quietly, drawing her from her thoughts, and making her look up at him. He hadn't actually said her name yet. "Look."

She turned and saw a bright object racing across the stars directly towards Earth. It was clear that the Doctor didn't know what it was either, but they both knew it was terrible.

 **A/N: Finally! The fob watch has been opened! The Time Lady has arrived!**

 **We'll get to learn about Adelaide pretty much as the Doctor does, but I'll say she's quite interested when put against the Doctor. There are certain similar things about them and certain things that are very different. But we'll just have to wait and see :)**

 **And, as promised, the name of the next story will be...Two Roads Diverge**

 **Notes on reviews:**

 _time-twilight: Not related, but they did help each other escape Gallifrey which will make the Master a bit 'attached' in the future ;)_

 _X-Lisa-Anne-X: Thank you!_

 _Hainako: The Doctor doesn't recognize her directly, but he HAS heard of her ;)_

 _AxidentlGoddess: There is a hint in this chapter about why they keep being drawn together. Won't be mentioned again for a bit, but did you catch it?_

 _WhiteWolfChick: Sorry about the cliffhangers, but I couldn't help myself ;)_

 _Guest: Finally here!_

 _holdontoyourhats: Thank you so much! I'm so glad to hear you think that about this story; it really gives me the confidence to continue working on it :) All of my original work is, sadly, not stuff I want to post online since I plan on getting published and don't want to have that worry of copyright issues. But I'm so touched to know that you'd be interested in reading original fiction._


	10. Something New

**Something New**

The door to the room slid open a few moments later and Wilfred Mott, grandfather to Donna, the woman who'd helped to save twenty-seven planets, walked into the room. He didn't know that there would be something different about Adelaide now, but thankfully he hadn't actually been around Caroline enough to notice the change in her appearance.

"Aye, aye," he said, walking more towards the Doctor, believing him to still be the one in charge at the moment. Adelaide continued to let him think that. "Got this old tub mended?"

The Doctor nodded. "Just trying to fix the heating."

Wilf took a seat next to the Doctor, staring out the large window next to them. "Oh…I've always dreamt of a view like that." He smiled. "Hee, hee. I'm an astronaut!" He pointed at the planet. "It's dawn over England, look. Brand new day…" and then he paused, his smile fading. "My wife's buried down there. I might never visit her again now. Do you think he changed them, in their graves?"

The Doctor looked away from Wilf, and even Adelaide had to close her eyes. This was her fault. "I'm sorry."

Wilf shook his head. "No, not your fault."

"Isn't it?"

"No," Adelaide said quietly, making both men look at her. Wilf smiled at her, believing her to be a supporting companion, but the Doctor knew what it really was.

Wilf turned back to the window, pointing at another point on Earth. "Oh, 1948, I was over there. End of the Mandate in Palestine. Private Mott. Skinny little idiot, I was. Stood on this rooftop, in the middle of a skirmish. It was like a blizzard, all them bullets in the air. The world gone mad." He chuckled sadly. "Yeah, you don't want to listen to an old man's tales, do you?"

The Doctor glanced at Adelaide, but she wasn't looking at him. "I'm older than you."

"Get away."

"I'm nine hundred and six." Adelaide raised her eyebrows at that. Time Lords that had been gallivanting throughout the universe saving people tended to have much shorter lives.

"What, really, though?"

"Yeah."

"Nine hundred years." Wilf shook his head. "We must look like insects to you."

"I think you look like giants."

Wilf pulled out the gun the Master had found. "Listen, I…I want you to have this. I've kept it all this time, and I thought…" he held it out for the Doctor to take.

"No."

"No, but if you take it, you could…"

"No." He swallowed. "You had that gun in the mansion. You could have shot the Master there and then."

Wilf chuckled. "Too scared, I suppose."

"I'd be proud."

"Of what?"

"If you were my dad."

"Oh, come on, don't start…" Wilf paused, thinking. "But you said, you were told 'he will knock four times' and then you die. Well, that's him, isn't it? The Master. That noise in his head? The Master is going to kill you."

"Yeah."

Wilf offered the gun again. "Then kill him first."

"And that's how the Master started." Adelaide knew that the Doctor was looking at her now. "It's not like I'm an innocent. I've taken lives. I got worse. I got clever. Manipulated people into taking their own. Sometimes I think a Time Lord lives too long." He shook his head. "I can't. I just can't."

"If the Master dies, what happens to all the people?"

"I don't know."

"Doctor, what happens?"

"The template snaps."

"What, they go back to being human?" Wilf waited for the Doctor to nod. "They're alive, and human? Then don't you dare, sir." He sounded bitter now, though it was wavering, emotions sneaking through. "Don't you dare put him before them. Now take this." He almost shoved the weapon into the Doctor's hand. "That's an order, Doctor. Take the gun. You take the gun and save your life. And please don't die. You're the most wonderful man and I don't want you to die."

The Doctor pushed the gun away. "Never."

"A star fell from the sky," the Master's voice was transmitted throughout the ship. "Don't you want to know where from? Because now it makes sense, Doctor, Adelaide. The whole of my life. My destiny. The star was a diamond. And the diamond is a Whitepoint star." Immediately, Adelaide straightened, turning to look at the Doctor. They both knew exactly what the Master meant. "And I have worked all night to sanctify that gift. Now the star is mine. I can increase the signal and use it as a lifeline. Do you get it now? Do you see? Keep watching, Time Lords. This should be spectacular. Over and out."

The Time Lords didn't have to say anything, didn't really have to know anything about each other, to know what the Master was about to do was a very, very dangerous thing.

"What's he on about?" Wilf asked, not realizing that the Doctor was looking at Adelaide. "What's he doing? Doctor, what does that mean?"

"A Whitepoint star is only found on one planet. Gallifrey. Which means it's the Time Lords."

Adelaide nodded, standing. "The Time Lords are returning."

Wilf's eyes widened. "Well, I mean, that's good, isn't it? I mean, that's your people."

The Doctor didn't answer. He grabbed the gun, staring at it for a moment before following Adelaide back towards the observation deck of the ship. As they ran, a high-pitched signal, four beats, broadcasted.

"What's that?" the female Vinvocci asked as the Time Lords ran in.

"Coming from Earth," the other said. "It's on every single wavelength."

The Time Lords didn't need to speak to each other as they ran throughout the control room, trying to fix everything the Doctor had broken, because they needed to get to Earth, now.

"But you said your people were dead," Wilf asked the Doctor. "Past tense!"

"Inside the Time War. And the whole War was Timelocked. Like…sealed inside a bubble. It's not a bubble but just think of a bubble. Nothing can get in or get out of the Timelock. Don't you see? Nothing can get in or get out, except something that was already there!"

Wilf nodded. "The signal. Since he was a kid."

The Doctor nodded. "If they can follow the signal, they can escape before they die."

"Well, then, big reunion. We'll have a party."

Adelaide scoffed. "There will be no party."

Wilf frowned at her and the Doctor. "But I've heard you talk about your people like they're wonderful."

"That's how I choose to remember them, the Time Lords of old. But then they went to war. An endless war, and it changed them right to the core. You're seen my enemies, Wilf. The Time Lords are more dangerous than any of them."

The female Vinvocci shook her head. "Time Lords? What Lords? Anyone what to explain?"

Adelaide paused her work, turning to the female alien. "You know all those old fairy tales about Time Lords that you thought were complete and utter nonsense?" she was making assumptions now, but based on what the Shadow Proclamation had said…the universe believed Time Lords to be a forgotten myth after what the Doctor had done. "They're very, very real."

The Doctor nodded. "This is a salvage ship, yes? You go trawling the asteroid fields for junk?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"So, you've got asteroid lasers!"

"Yeah, but they're all frazzled."

The Doctor threw a lever and the doors in question opened. "Consider them unfrazzled. You there, what's your name?" he pointed at the female, but he didn't wait for an answer. "I'm going to need you on navigation. And you," the other one, "get in the laser-pod. Wilfred."

"Yeah?"

"Laser number two. The old soldier's got one more battle."

"This ship can't move," the Vinvocci reminded them. "It's dead!"

The Doctor just shrugged. "Fix the heating?" he threw two more levers and the ship powered up completely.

"But now they can see us!"

"Oh, yes!"

"This is my ship, and you're not moving it! Step away from the wheel!"

The Doctor didn't move. "There's an old Earth saying, Captain. A phrase of great power and wisdom, and consolation to the soul in times of need."

"What's that, then?"

"Allons-y!" the Doctor pulled back on the controls, sending the ship practically plummeting back towards Earth, the windows glowing gold as they hit the atmosphere. "Come on! Come on!" he looked over at Adelaide when he heard her laugh loudly, looking increasingly gleeful despite everything that was happening.

"You are blinking, flipping mad!"

The Doctor nodded at the Vinvocci and Wilf. "You two. What did I say? Lasers."

"What for?"

"Because of the missiles. We've got to fight off an entire planet!" the two rushed off almost instantly after that.

"We've got incoming," the female said just as the missiles were picked up by the monitor.

"You two, open fire!" the Doctor turned the ship violently as he spoke, Adelaide not risking doing much moving around at the moment. "Come on, Wilf!"

"And there's more. Sixteen of them! Oh, and another sixteen!"

The Doctor shrugged. "Then get on the read gun lasers!" Thankfully, she followed the orders. "You two, open fire! Now!" the ship veered to the side again, making a complete full circle. "No, you don't! Fire!" Two missiles exploded right in front of them, smashing the front window. "Lock the navigation!"

The female hurried back into the room. "Onto what?"

"England," Adelaide said, taking over for the Doctor at that moment. "The Naismith mansion!"

They speed over land. "Destination?"

"Fifty kliks and closing. We've locking on to the house. We are going to stop, though?" Neither Time Lord responded. "Doctor? We are going to stop?"

"Doctor?" Wilf said, struggling to come back into the room. "Doctor, you said you were going to die!"

"He said what?"

"But is that all of us? I won't stop you, sir. But is this it?"

The Doctor managed to pull the ship upright at the last minute before both Time Lords ran to a panel on the floor, the Doctor sonicing it open and pulling out his gun. He looked up at Adelaide, forgetting for a moment that she was a Time Lady.

But then she, who was partially responsible for everything that was happening today, jumped out of the ship first.

He had no choice but to follow.

They broke through the glass ceiling and landed directly between the Master and the newly resurrected Time Lords. The Doctor landed on his stomach a second after Adelaide fell on her side, facing the Time Lords. She looked right into the eyes of the President Rassilon and he smirked at her.

The Doctor, still clutching the gun, tried to raise his arm and point it at the President, aiming over Adelaide's back, but it was too weak, they'd fallen too far.

Thankfully, Adelaide's body had had enough time to readjust to being a Time Lady. She didn't want to think what would happen otherwise.

Rassilon stepped forward, looking down at all of them. "My Lord Doctor," he practically glared at the man. "My Lord Master," he received an adoring smile. "My Lady Adelaide," and that smirk, that horrible smirk, because her plan had failed, the Time Lords were winning, she was forced to see the consequences of her actions. "We are gathered for the end."

"Listen to me!" the Doctor tried. "You can't!"

"It is a fitting paradox that our salvation comes at the hands of our most infamous child." Rassilon nodded towards the Master.

"Oh, he's not saving you," the Doctor shook his head. "Don't you realize what he's doing?"

"Hey, no, hey!" the Master pointed at him in annoyance. "That's mine. Hush!" He threw his arms out wide to the President. "Look around you. I've transplanted myself into every single human being. But who wants a mongrel little species like them, because now I can transplant myself into every single Time Lord. Oh, yes, Mr. President, sir! Standing there all noble and resplendent and decrepit. Think of how much better you're going to look as me!"

Rassilon, however, raised his gauntlet and every human began to shake again. He was reversing the damage the Master had done.

And as much as Adelaide hated Rassilon, she had to applaud him there.

"No, no, don't!" the Master cried. "No, no, stop it! No, no, no, don't!"

Rassilon looked around at the gathered humans. "On your knees, mankind!" They all obeyed.

"No, that's fine, that's good, because you said salvation," the Master said, nodding. "I still saved you. Don't forget that."

Rassilon looked up, grinning. "The approach begins."

"Approach of what?"

"Something is returning!" the Doctor said. "Don't you ever listen? That was the prophecy. Not someone, something."

"What is it?"

"They're not just bringing back the Time Lords." Adelaide hadn't taken her gaze off of Rassilon. "It's Gallifrey."

The Earth shook as the planet approached.

The Doctor managed to push himself to his knees, hunched over from the pain. Adelaide just held herself up by her arm, already feeling the lingering regeneration energy healing her before any injury had the chance to last. Behind them, the Master fell to his knees. "But…I did this. I get the credit. I'm on your side!" The room shook even more violently and, if they looked up, they could see Gallifrey approaching across the sky. "But this is fantastic, isn't it? The Time Lords restored."

"You weren't there in the final days of the War," the Doctor sneered. "You never saw what was born. But if the Timelock's broken, then everything's coming through! Not just the Daleks, but the Skaro Degradations, the Horde of Travesties, the Nightmare Child, the Could-Have-Been-King with his army of Meanwhiles and Never-weres. The War turned into hell! And that's what you've opened, right above the Earth. Hell is descending."

With each name the Doctor listed off, Adelaide's eyes couldn't help but widen. She'd left when the war was bad, when there was no hope, when she'd believed that it would all implode before it had spread throughout the universe, but if the Doctor were telling the truth, if this much had descended onto Gallifrey...

She'd made an even worse mistake than she'd thought.

The Master just smirked. "My kind of world."

"Just listen! Because even the Time Lords can't survive that."

Rassilon nodded. "We will initiate the Final Sanction! The end of time will come at my hand! The rupture will continue until it rips the Time Vortex apart!"

The Master shook his head, eyes wide. "That's suicide!"

"We will ascend to become creatures of consciousness alone. Free of these bodies, free of time, and cause and effect, while creation itself ceases to be."

The Doctor nodded. "You see now? That's what they were planning in the final days of the War. I had to stop them!"

And Adelaide was glad he did.

The Master pushed himself up. "Then, take me with you, Lord President. Let me ascend into glory!"

"You are diseased, albeit a disease of our own making. No more!" Rassilon raised his glove, ready to strike the Master down. But the Doctor stood and pointed his weapon at the President himself. The man glared. "Choose your enemy well. We are many. The Master is but one."

"But he's the President," the Master prompted, egging him on. "Kill him, and Gallifrey could be yours." But the Doctor turned to point the weapon at the Master, the shock of it making Rassilon lower his gauntlet. "He's to blame, not me!" The Master's eyes widened. "Oh, the link is inside my head. Kill me, the link gets broken, they go back." He sneered. "You never would, you coward. Go on then! Do it!"

The Doctor turned his weapon on Rassilon.

The Master nodded. "Exactly! It's not me, it's him. He's the link. Kill him!"

"The final act of your life is murder," Rassilon said. "But which one of us?"

Adelaide looked up at the Doctor, still lying on her side, helpless to stop him or force him to do anything. But she'd removed herself from the war and its outcome, she'd sent herself away. It was the Doctor who was at the heart of the Time War, the one who had to make this choice.

No more.

The Doctor turned back to face the Master. "Get out of the way." The Master moved instantly and the Doctor shot the Whitepoint star itself. He spun to face Rassilon, dangerous pride on his face. "The link is broken. Back into the Time War, Rassilon. Back into hell."

Rassilon raised his gauntlet again. "You'll die with me, Doctor!"

"I know."

"Get out of the way." Everyone in the room turned in shock as the Master rubbed his hands together, prepared to sacrifice himself to save the Doctor. The Doctor stepped back, Adelaide standing to follow. "You did this to me!" he fired a bolt of energy directly at Rassilon's chest, making the man stumble. "All my life! You made me! One!" he fired another bolt, and he flicked a skeleton again, counting off each bolt of energy. "Two! Three! Four!"

Another burst of bright light filled the room, blinding the last two Time Lords as Gallifrey disappeared once again, returning to where the Doctor and Adelaide had doomed it in their own separate ways.

|C-S|

When the last two Time Lords came to once again, they were alone.

And alive.

Adelaide wasn't that surprised she was still there, given the only prophecy about her had been that she'd be returning. But they were both surprised the Doctor was.

He will knock four times.

"I'm alive," the Doctor gasped, pushing himself up. "I've…there was…I'm still alive."

There were four knocks.

The Doctor froze.

Four knocks.

Someone was knocking on glass.

Four knocks.

The Time Lords looked over and saw Wilf standing in the glass booth. Adelaide hadn't really been paying much attention to him with the Time Lords there, of course, but she had heard him enter the room. He must have saved someone, releasing them and letting them run. "They gone, then?" the man waved weakly. "Yeah, good-o. If you could let me out?"

The Doctor nodded. "Yeah."

"Only, this thing seems to be making a bit of noise."

He stood. "The Master left the Nuclear Bolt running. It's gone into overload."

"And that's bad, is it?"

"No, because all the excess radiation gets vented inside there." He nodded at the booths. "Vinvocci glass contains it. All five hundred thousand rads, about to flood that thing."

Wilf chuckled. "Oh. Well, you'd better let me out, then."

"Except it's gone critical. Touch one control and it floods." He pulled out the sonic. "Even this would set it off."

"I'm sorry."

The Doctor nodded. "Sure."

"Look, just leave me."

He smiled painfully. "Okay, right then, I will. Because you had to go in there, didn't you? You had to go and get stuck, oh yes!" he backed up slightly. "Because that's who you are, Wilfred. You were always this. Waiting for me all this time."

"No really, just leave me." Wilf sounded near tears. "I'm an old man, Doctor. I've had my time."

"Well, exactly. Look at you! Not remotely important! But me? I could do so much more. So much more! But this is what I get. My reward. And it's not fair!" he shoved a stack of papers off the desk, leaning against the empty space, hanging his head. "Oh…oh, I've lived too long." He stood there for a moment longer, breathing hard, before standing and walking towards the booth.

He didn't look at Adelaide, and she was glad.

She'd had enough of choices, and she didn't want to admit what her's would have been in this moment.

"No. No, no, please, please don't!" Wilf shook his head. "No, don't! Please don't! Please!"

The Doctor stopped with his hand on the handle. "Wilfred, it's my honor." He took a breath. "Better be quick!" he stepped inside the booth. "Three," he released Wilf. "Two." Adelaide walked towards him slowly. "One." The last button and he collapsed to the ground, convulsing with the pain as all of the radiation flooded his body.

By the time he stilled, Adelaide was standing before him. That amount of radiation wouldn't normally kill a Time Lord dead, but the Doctor had so few regenerations left…

His hand twitched.

Adelaide would never admit it, not to anyone in the entire universe, but she was so impossibly thankful that the Doctor had survived this.

He would regenerate, that was for certain, but he would survive this.

The Doctor moved slowly, pushing himself up to sit. He didn't meet her eyes.

"Hello," Wilf said quietly.

He nodded. "Hi."

"Still with us?"

The Doctor pushed himself to his feet, touching the controls. "The system's dead. I absorbed it all. Whole thing's kaput." He pressed the door open. "Oh. Now it opens, yeah." He stepped out of the booth and Adelaide stepped back.

"Well, there we are, then," Wilf nodded. "Safe and sound. Mind you, you're in hell of a state. You've got some battle scars there." The Doctor just ran his hands down his face, using the first bits of his regeneration to heal himself. "But they've…your face. How did you do that?"

The Doctor just looked at his hands. "It's started.

|C-S|

As the Doctor returned Wilf to his home, Adelaide stayed inside the TARDIS. Technically, she knew the Nobles about as much as the Doctor did, except for his first accidental adventure with Donna. She'd been on the street when the Doctor had first encountered Wilf, and she'd been alongside him every point in the future.

But she knew this was far more important for the Doctor. It was his life that was ending, his companions he was preparing to say goodbye to. Adelaide was simply the newly reborn Time Lady with an undefined relationship with the Doctor. She had no right to intrude on his moments.

Instead, she took the time to remind herself how to actually pilot a TARDIS. It had been a long time since she'd tried, and even then she hadn't actually had this type of TARDIS. She'd flown a Type 40 TARDIS before, back on Gallifrey, but it had been centuries since then.

Thankfully, most of the technology had remained the same between this type and the one Adelaide was more used to, so there wasn't any worry of anything disastrous happening.

She did a small scan for her own TARDIS but wasn't that surprised that nothing came up. It had been badly damaged when she'd arrived on Earth, retreating within itself in order to heal. Designed to only appear to the pilot until it was fully repaired, and that would take some time.

She'd have to be patient.

When the Doctor re-entered the TARDIS, she knew he was a bit surprised to see her standing there, forgetting again that she was a Time Lady. She supposed she'd have to get used to that; the Doctor had gotten so used to her being Caroline that it was understandable he'd forget, occasionally, who she actually was.

"Where do you want to go?"

Adelaide helped the Doctor pilot the TARDIS to visit his past companions. As time went on it grew more difficult for him to move because he was putting off his regeneration for far too long. She wondered how he would have managed all of this on his own because she had a bit of experience with prolonging regenerations. She hadn't done it for as long as the Doctor was now, but she'd done it for a bit, and it had been horrible.

She could only imagine what the Doctor was feeling now.

She waited outside the TARDIS in the end, ready to help him if he needed it. The Doctor wanted to see his companions on his own, but that didn't stop Adelaide from wanting to help him when simply walking became too difficult.

The Doctor staggered around the corner of the street, struggling, and he fell to the ground before Adelaide could reach him. He took a moment to pause, breathing hard, and when he looked up they both saw Ood Sigma.

"We will sing to you, Doctor," the Ood said. "The universe will sing you to your sleep." Adelaide reached him and the Doctor leaned on her, letting her help him stand. "This song is ending, but the story never ends."

Together, they reached the TARDIS, though Adelaide had to abandon him almost instantly because his hand had started to glow. Even another Time Lord couldn't survive the other's regeneration. She backed up so that they stood facing each other. "You're going to cause quite a large explosion," she said quietly, though she knew it was far colder than anything Caroline had ever said.

"You have experience with prolonging regeneration then."

She nodded. "Once. But I have experience with energy. I know a dangerous concentration of energy when I see it, even if it is simply regeneration."

He nodded. "I'm going to regenerate."

Adelaide could see the shock in his face when she looked empathetic. "Yes, you will. You've regenerated before."

There was gold streaming out of everything by then. His regeneration was coming and he couldn't avoid it. He didn't know exactly why he wanted to, but he felt like he did. He felt like he had to hide and run and stay alive, even if he wasn't going to do. "I don't want to go."

She gave him a small nod, smiling sadly. "I know."

And then he was regenerating, the energy ripping through his system and changing each and every one of his atoms. Adelaide, moving backward even further from the danger, watched with wide eyes.

She wasn't certain why she was terrified because she knew exactly what would happen. There was nothing Adelaide should have been worried about. She had seen regeneration, had studied energy and force. And she was a Time Lady, a member of a species and society where regeneration was a natural factor of life that everyone understood.

Why on any planet in the universe was Adelaide terrified about what was happening to the Doctor?

And why, when Adelaide had been opening her fob watch, had the Doctor been terrified about what was happening to her?

When the energy faded the Doctor stumbled back, taking quite a few breaths. Quite a few fires had started around the TARDIS, like Adelaide had expected. He looked himself over, touching everything as he named it. "Legs. I've got legs. Arms. Hands. Ooo, fingers. Lots of fingers. Ears, yes. Eyes, two. Nose," he grimaced, "I've had worse. Chin, blimey. Hair…" he froze, holding a bit of his fringe before his eyes. "I'm a girl! No. No." He grabbed his chin, feeling his Adam's apple. "I'm not a girl. And still not ginger!" He looked up at her before noticing the amount of damage his regeneration had actually done. "And something else. Something important. I'm…I'm…I'm…"

There was a loud bang and they were both flung against the console. "Ha! Crashing!" The TARDIS was plummeting back towards Earth, but the Doctor didn't seem to care at that moment. He was too excited about the prospect of everything to be worried. And when he looked at Adelaide again, he was almost shocked to see a large grin on her face. "Whoo hoo hoo!" he cheered. "Geronimo!"

 **A/N: The Doctor's regenerated! The two Time Lords have quite an interesting time ahead of them.**

 **The next story should be posted shortly after this once!**

 **Notes on reviews:**

 _time-twilight: We'll learn Adelaide's age eventually, but it will take a bit of time. Wasn't just the Doctor thinking that ;)_

 _AxidentlGoddess: I'm glad you liked how the timing worked out. Regeneration/new companions will always be a very fresh start for the two of them, helping them get new perspectives on their relationship :) Though I will admit, it would have been interesting to see how Caroline would have done as 11's companion._

 _Guest: It does indeed ;)_

 _Guest: Don't worry, Adelaide's right alongside the Doctor this time. These two will have quite a big issue with communication ;)_

 _flowerangel502: Don't worry, he's not mad at her, especially as he doesn't really know how much of the stories were true about her. Aligned isn't exactly like mating/bonding. I guess you'd say it's closer to Linking, but still very different; we'll find out more in the future. And, spoilers, there are currently no Time Tots in the works for this story ;)_


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